Learning To Fly
by CatchingForRain
Summary: It's a new year at Hogwarts. Little do they know, they may have got the most troublesome year since Harry & his friends. And as the first years learn more magic, they learn more secrets. And some of them are best not re-discovered. HARRYPOTTER&BANDS.
1. Escape

**A/N: First things first. If you DO NOT like Harry Potter/Wizards/Hogwarts or anything that is connected to that, this story is not for you. Also, If you DO NOT like the majority of the members of bands such as Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco, Thirty Seconds To Mars, Paramore, Muse, Blink-182, The Acadamy Is..., Muse & various others, this story is also NOT for you.**

**If you're still here, then HI. This story IS based in the world of Harry Potter, and the main characters are from the bands mentioned above. I don't want to include many OC's. But due to a serious lack of girls in rock world, I'm going to have to put some in there to even the numbers out. This is just the prologue though, so it's only based on one Patrick Stump for now. Reviews would be much appreciated and would probably make me write faster. My muse loves review food (specifically galaxy chocolate).**

**DISCLAIMER: (because I've forgotten in everything else I've written) I OWN NOTHING MENTIONED IN THIS CHAPTER. APART FROM THE RANDOM PEOPLE THAT WON'T HAVE BIG PARTS. I DO HOWEVER, OWN SEVERAL POSTERS. AND SOME SKINNY JEANS.**

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It was two weeks before secondary school started when Patrick Stump got the letter. Afterwards he would stress that it was from this exact moment that he could trace the changes in his life. But that was in the future and technically hadn't happened yet so therefore is irrelevant to the present time. And in the present time, Patrick could not understand the significance of what would happen on that day.

Patrick was sitting in the living room, on the three seater sofa. Although the seats were so worn down, the cushions had escaped and only the springs remained. It was like sitting on a spiky sponge. At this exact moment in present time, Patrick was desperately trying to make a complicated maths problem solve itself. It was halfway through the afternoon of a particularly sweltering day, but Patrick was under strict instructions not to leave the house that day.

Patrick wasn't that bothered about not being able to leave the house, his only real close friend, Steven, was grounded after both Patrick and him snuck into the nearby town without asking permission. They had taken the bus, arrived home late and when they arrived back home, Steven's parents had been waiting for them. Steven, being caught red-handed, had been grounded until the start of school, but luckily Patrick had gotten away with it.

Patrick shuddered at the thought of his parents finding out. As it was, he was convinced that something was going on. Since the mail had arrivedthat moring his parents had been avoiding him, before they finally shut both him and his older brother out of the kitchen. But they had given him the maths problems before they had. Since then Patrick had been sitting on the sofa, and his brother had made himself scarce, probably off to be a jerk to younger kids somewhere.

Patrick growled under his breath, fiddling with his pen. A loud noise from the kitchen made him jump and he dropped his pen underneath the sofa. Muttering in an undertone of swearwords that someone his age shouldn't know, Patrick knelt on the floor and attempted to fish the pen back out from underneath the sofa. He was just about to grab it, and was pulling it from under the sofa-

And that's when his parents walked in.

"Pat, we need to talk-"

"OW!" Patrick was startled and surprised by his dads voice, and accidently head-butted the corner on the sofa. He sat up slowly, rubbing the sore bruise on the back of his head through his hat.

"Oh! Patrick honey, are you okay?" Patrick's mother leaned around his father, conceron showing on her pale complexion.

Patrick smirked at the irony, "I'm fine, I was just getting my pen." He waved the offending objects at them. "And don't call me 'Pat'." He finished, looking directly at his father, who doesn't even seemed to notice.

All though, he face did seem to seem to get more blank, "Now listen here, son, we got a very different letter this morning by post. You don't know anything about a 'Hogwarts' do you? There's no funny business going on here?"

Awkward business? Patrick stared as his dad, completely confused. He didn't do anything; that was always his brother. Harry had always been the brother that was getting involved with things that he shouldn't be. Patrick was the one that kept the secret, and tried as he could to keep his life. He did not want to end up like Harry.

"Just give him the letter Robbie." Patrick's mum scolded his father, who reluctantly passed a neatly written letter, which appeared to be handwritten with a quill, with green ink.

Patrick took it, very much sure that the letter would bite him, or contain some kind of massive joke that Harry was behind; although, the writing was far too neat for any of Harry's stupid friends. Patrick scanned the letter quickly, piecing the words together. He finished reading within a minute, but continued to stare, convinced the words rearrange themselves on the page to something that would make more sense.

"I'm a wizard?" He said finally, breaking the silence, facing his parents with a disbelieving look.

"How would I know?" His dad replied, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, how do I know if this is meant to be real or not?" Patrick shot back, throwing in an edge to his voice to match his father's tone.

KNOCK. KNOCK.

An awkward silence preceded the knocking. Patrick's mum looked panicked, not even sure what to do. However Patrick's father made the desicion for everyone. He stood, said "Don't mention this," swept the inhabitants of the room with a menacing glare and left the room to answer the door.

~~~~FANCYTIMESKIP~~~~

Ten minutes later, and a large man who called himself 'Rubeus Hagrid, games keeper at Hogwarts and muggle coordinator' (this late statement was said with much more pride than the others, as if Hagrid was extremely proud of it) was sat on the three seater sofa. Patrick's parents had both squashed themselves together on the two seater, while Patrick attempted to make himself appear invisible, sitting as far away from the stranger as he could. Although, Patrick kept his eyes firmly on Hagrid, not wanting for a second to look away, in case he disappeared as suddenly as he had arrived.

It turns out they did have to mention 'it'. Hagrid had only just finished explaining how Patrick REALLY was a wizard, and how he was to be collected by a family called the 'Leto's', when Patrick's mum spoke up for the first time.

"Do we have to pay anything for this?"

"Fer th' Leto's to take Patrick here? Nah, It's all been agreed befor' 'and." Hagrid smiled through his thick beard at Patrick, who tried not to noticeably shrink away "Now, I'm sure yer'll get along with the Leto's Patrick. I hear they have a son in yer year."

Patrick's stomach managed to do a flip and a complete dive at the same time. He managed a tentative smile before he was walloped on the back by one of Hagrid's abnormally large hands. All the air was forced out of his lungs, and he started to cough. Hagrid however, hadn't seemed to have noticed the younger boys problem.

"Righ' well, I best be off. Duty calls. See yeh at Hogwart's Patrick!" And with those parting words, Hagrid was gone, forcing himself through the hallway and out the front door that was defiantly too small for people his height and size.

Patrick continued to cough, but caught his breath after a few seconds. He rushed out into the kitchen for a glass of water to soothe his protesting throat, his thoughts reeling.

He was a wizard! He could count the amount of people who he knew that were wizards on one hand; because he didn't know any... Well, Except for Mrs. Blanchard, the scary lady who lived at the end of the road. Everyone was convinced there was something going on in there. But, that was beside the point, he. Could. Do. Magic! Wait until he told... Patrick paused his mental roller coaster. No, he wouldn't tell anyone. Although he would like to see his teachers faces as they all turned into frogs.

A noise from the living room gave Patrick a sense of Déjà vu, and also made him drop his glass on the floor.

"Aw, crap." He muttered irritably, as it smashed. He then panicked, because he could hear someone walking towards the kitchen. He scrabbled frantically around the pieces of glass. "No! No, no, no, no... huh?"

Strangely, right before Patrick's eyes, the glass had moulded itself back together with a satisfied tinkling noise. Patrick gaped, his mouth wide open, his thoughts reeling even more than they had just a few seconds ago. Patrick reached out with a finger and poked it, the glass rolling away from him like a normal glass. Not like something that had just been broken five seconds ago.

"Patrick, did something just break?" said his father, now standing in the doorway of the kitchen. Looking incredibly irritable, and wearing his 'there better not be trouble' face.

Patrick ignored his dad though. His brain was on a roll. Thoughts were colliding in ways that most people didn't even think were possible. Did he really just use magic? Had he been using magic throughout his whole life but never realised? Could he really turn his teachers into frogs? Did you get into trouble if you used magic when you didn't mean too?

Holy frick on a stick, he was a wizard.

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**So there you go.**

**Summary: Nothing much. Patrick is obsessed with frogs. His dad's a jerk. Hagrid is awesome.**

**I hope you enjoyed it. I know nothing much happens but I am known as a 'rant-writer'. I write loads, but nothing really happens. I PROMISE THE NEXT CHAPTER HAS MORE INTERESTINGNESS. And I'll introduce more characters.**

**In other news, Thirty Seconds To Mars are amazingly good live, and I was actually lucky enough to see them in Newcastle on the 27th. They were brilliant. IF YOU HAVE THE CHANCE, GO BUT TICKETS NOW.**

**Okay, advert over. Thank you for reading. If you review, you can either get a hug from Jared or from Patrick. It's true.  
Killjoys, make some noise.  
_~Rain_**


	2. Don't You Know Who I Think I Am?

**A/N: WHOOOOO. CHECK ME OUT. I'M UPDATING ALREADY :D**

**I've been writing this up for the last week, as it's ten pages in my notebook and eight pages on word, I think I've done a pretty speedy job. I'm sorry this chapter doesn't really have much in it, but I tried to attack it with my obscure humour and I also chucked in some other people because as much as I love Patrick, this story ain't all about him.**

**I'M OFF SCHOOL. I BROKE UP YESTERDAY. *dances with Joe* So you can possibly expect another quick update but don't hold your breath. I won't be responsible for your death. O nthe bright side, you can't sue me. Cause you'd be dead. WIN.**

**Don't die though, I need your reviews. My muse likes them. And, for the purpose of ease, my muse shall be called Stevie. Cause I'm terrible at coming up with names and Stevie is what I call everything.**

**You can thank Becca, Laura and Anna(bel) for this chapter. The first and last because it's the conversations that I have with them that kicks my imagination up the bum and makes me come up with wacko ideas like this one. And Laura, because she's helped me so much in the last two months and I probably wouldn't be writing anything if it wasn't for her.**

**Now I'll stop blabbing at let you read this stupidly long chapter that I'm really quite proud of. GO GO GO GO.**

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"Pete, wake up."

"Seriously, you are going to be late."

"PETER LEWIS KINGST-"

"ARGH! I'M UP, I'M UP!"

"Okay. Now _hurry _up."

Eleven year old Pete Wentz rolled over in the bed... Forgot he wasn't in his own, and consequently fell off the mattress and onto the floor.

Pete's mum looked over at him from where she stood by the single wardrobe of the room they were sharing. She raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Instead, she continued to pack Pete's school uniform, the last thing to go in the suitcase, humming a song by a popular wizard rock band.

"No, no! It's okay! Don't help me..." Pete mumbled as he forced himself to his feet. He could feel bruises forming already.

"Hurry up and get changed." His mother said instead, choosing to ignore Pete's half attempt at sarcasm so early in the morning "We need to catch the underground to King's Cross before you can get on the Hogwarts express." She closed Pete's case with a flourish. "Done! Your clothes for today are over there." The mentioned clothes floated towards Pete from the other bed in the room, they were stacked in a neat pile before Pete reached out and grabbed them. The magic stopped, and the clothes crumpled to the floor.

"Oops?" Pete said sheepishly.

His mum said nothing, but fixed him with the 'shut up and get dressed before I really hurt you' look.

Pete didn't fancy his chances against that, and got changed absently; His mind quickly shooting off to the day ahead.

"Will we be catching the underground with muggles then mum?" he asked when he was finally changed into a pair of jeans and a jumper.

"Of course it'll be with muggles! We can hardly use a broom over London! You don't want to get expelled already do you?" His mum replied jokingly, and laughed slightly evilly when her son paled significantly. "I'm joking Pete. You won't get expelled."

Pete glowered at her, before looking at the mirror. He ruffled his hair up, feeling self-conscious. His tanned face stared back him, looking anxious. Pete twisted one of his wristbands, feeling like a massive pit was forming in his stomach.

His mum, clearly reading Pete's emotions, pulled him away from the mirror. She gave him some muggle money and pushed him towards the door of the room with strict instructions not to do 'Anything Wizardlike'.

Pete left the room quickly; avoiding what could possibly a stupidly long winded lecture, and wandered down the corridor. The hotel he and his mum were staying in was about a mile away from King's Cross, and the area surrounding it wasn't too nice, but it was close to Diagon Alley, the home of the world's largest collection of wizard only shops. In the last two days, Pete and his mum had visited London from Chicago, buying supplies for Pete's first term at Hogwarts.

His family didn't make that much of a fuss over his initiation letter. Both his parents had trained as wizards there, and they said Hogwarts ran in the family. Pete believed that if he hadn't got into Hogwarts, his family would have sent him to Durmstrang, and nobody wants that.

Pete reached the staircase at the end of the corridor, and quickly walked down the stairs two at a time. He reached the ground floor, crossed the foyer and found himself a seat in the hotel's restaurant.

He checked the people around him, wondering if any of the other families were wizards and was there for the Hogwarts Express too. He doubted it; all of them seemed decidedly boring.

A young looking waitress walked over to Pete's table, and after looking at him sceptically for two seconds, asked him what he wanted to order.

"A pumpkin juice and a chocolate frog... With a croissant please."

The waitress stared at Pete, who was too busy studying the muggles and hotel decor to realise what he had just said was probably the weirdest thing the waitress had heard that morning.

"Uh, I don't think we sell chocolate frogs... We might sell Freddo's.."

"Excuse me! Oh, I'm so sorry!" Pete's mum walked into the waitress, who stepped back from the table, her expression varying from the deeply confused to the incredibly worried.

"Right, well. Can we have two orange juices, I'll have porridge and what did you order Pete...? A croissant? Oh, and a croissant too. Thank you." Pete's mum continued, dropping Pete's large trunk next to the table and sitting down on the other chair.

The waitress seemed relieved to have an order that she could actually fulfil, and with a quick bob of her head, she walked swiftly back to the main bar.

Pete looked at his mum with a sheepish expression, expecting soem kind of reprimand. Instead, his mum shook her head in mock sadness, "I leave you for five minutes and you mess everything up, that poor muggle."

Pete grinned back, not feeling so bad about messing up. Hey, in less than three hours he would be on the way to Hogwarts where he could finally learn some magic. It was hard to be in a bad mood.

~~~~FANCYTIMEANDSPACEJUMP~~~~

Brendon stared at his suitcase. It was too light, but too bulky, and also something was poking out the top. He would never understand how people managed to pack perfectly.

It was too late to change anything though. Brendon had been dropped off at the station at half nine, his parents had both said goodbye before continuing onto the airport where they were flying out to an inclusive wizard resort in the Caribbean.

Brendon understood why they weren't waiting. His parents coped with change by spending lots and lots of money. He sighed anyway, giving his suitcase some respite from his scrutinizing glare for a few seconds while he checked the time.

It was half eleven now, and the Hogwarts Express had started boarding about ten minutes ago. Brendon had decided to wait out the initial rush, he didn't want to get a baggage related injury. Speaking of baggage, Brendon thought as he turned back to check on his again-

"HEY! NO! Argh-"

Brendon felt something knock into the back of his legs. He overbalanced, flailed madly for a couple of seconds, caught in mid air by gravity, before spectacularly faceplanting into his suitcase.

"Ow" Brendon muttered into his suitcase.

His nose felt like it had retreated two inches into his skull. He wondered what the hell the things were in his suitcase that felt like rocks. Brendon pulled himself away from his suitcase, and dropped himself on the ground next to it, feeling incredibly dazed and angry at the person who had run into him. He reached up to check on his nose. No blood... And it still felt like it was in roughly the same place.

It was roughly then, that Brendon realised the person who had run into him had hung around. And not only that, but he was busy talking incredibly fast and looking concerned.

"-wasn't even looking where I was going, it's completely my fault. Oh jeez, Gerard's going to kill me. Are you sure you're okay? I'm really sorry I hit you..."

The boy looked young; perhaps even younger than a first year normally looked. But then some people matured much slower than others. And he did currently look like a rabbit caught in wand light. His brown eyes were wide, and he had on some glasses but they were so eschew and scratched that it didn't even look like they were helping him. His mousey brown hair was short and tousled, but what Brendon instantly noticed was that it was this boy's trolley that had launched the attack on him.

Just for clarification, Brendon asked "Did you hit me?" In his most commanding voice that he had learnt off his father.

The brown eyed boy stopped talking. He eye Brendon cautiously before replying with a strangely quiet, "Yes?" a pause, "My name's Mikey-"

Brendon shot up from the floor, ignoring his body's complaints, and grabbed Mikey by the collar. He was at least a head taller than the other boy, and he used it to his advantage. "Do you have no idea who I am? I bet you have no idea about anything except your safe muggle world- argh!"

Mikey had narrowed his eyes at Brendon's last statement, and it made him significantly more formidable; slightly. Although that wasn't what had made Brendon call out; what had made Brendon call out was the fact that Mikey had just kicked him fairly hard in the shin.

Brendon dropped Mikey onto the floor, and for the second time that day, fell onto his suitcase. He swore angrily, feeling a bruise forming on his shin already.

And that was when...

"Mikey, what the hell are you doing?"

Brendon and Mikey's heads both snapped up at the sound of the oncoming voice.

It was another brown haired boy, with hair much darker than Mikey's but slightly reminiscent. He was taller, and seemed to know more about what he was doing. But that may just have been because Mikey was sat on the floor nursing a bruised ego. The newcomer stopped by them, and started between them, seemingly speechless.

"What..?"

Brendon stood again, wincing slightly as his body rebelled against him, but ignoring it, and putting on some polite mannerisms. He stuck his hand out, "Hello, I'm Brendon..." However, his hand was consequently ignored by the other boy, who turned to face Mikey.

"You okay?" He asked, looking down.

"Oh, yeah. I'm brilliant Gerard." Mikey replied sarcastically.

Brendon retreated his hand to his side, feeling slightly miffed. He stood awkwardly for a few minutes while the two others talked, wondering if they were going to acknowledge him. Eventually he decided to start edging away towards his suitcase and make a break for it; he was going to be late if he didn't hurry.

No such luck for Brendon. Mikey saw him moving and stood, walking over to help him. Together they righted Brendon's suitcase, and in an undertone they talked.

"I'm still sorry for knocking you over." Mikey started, a slight anger could be detected in his voice, but Brendon felt like Mikey was after an apology, not a fight.

"That's okay..." Brendon replied and instantly regretted it. He should have apologized. It was the right thing to do, even if he was never going to meet this muggle again.

An awkward silence stretched between the two boys, as they both stood with their hands on the suitcase, side by side.. In the end Brendon broke the silence again "Don't worry about it, I should have been looking."

Beside him, Brendon felt Mikey stiffen. He instantly regretted being a jerk and not saying sorry like he knew he should have.

"I've got to go. Bye." He blurted out, practically throing himself into the stream of oncoming people heading down onto the platform, and working his way through towards the barrier for platform 9 3/4's.

Behind him he heard Gerard faintly say "Don't worry about it... Not on our train is he?"

Gerard turned to Mikey as soon as the other kid had successfully disappeared into the crowd.

"Do I want to know what happened?"

Mikey raised an eyebrow, still fuming silently on how the other boy had treated him.

"No, you really don't want to know. You'll just get annoyed anyway."

"You know you're trying to be subtle here? As in no attention drawing actions... Like fights.."

Mikey scowled, "Whatever, it wasn't my fault anyway."

Gerard sighed, "Come on, let's get on the train and find some seats before they all get taken"

"Mum, seriously, do not kiss me."

Patrick watched as Mr & Mrs Leto said goodbye to their sons.

Turns out, wizards aren't all completely scary and massively huge like Hagrid. According to Shannon, the eldest Leto brother, Hagrid was half-giant anyway.

The last week that Patrick had spent with the Leto family had been the most interesting of his life. They had visited a wizard only area, which although it had been attacked recently (well, four years ago), it was full of interesting shops, weird looking people and more wizarding things than Patrick could shake his new wand at.

Patrick drifted back to reality, and started watching the people who were already boarding the large steam train. All of them were wearing normal human clothing, and it gave Patrick a weird feeling, knowing that all of these people were actually witches and wizards. By the time they had arrived at Hogwarts, everyone would be wearing the black robes of the school. Everyone escept for the first years had colourful logo's printed on each item of their uniform, depending on the house that they were in. Patrick's own uniform, currently in his trunk, was emblazoned only with a large grey H, signifying that he hadn't yet been placed into a house. Patrick couldn't help wondering about which house he'd be in. He hadn't stopped wondering ever since Shannon had first explained the concept of it.

A hand suddenly appeared in front of Patrick's face.

"Hello? Tricky, we're going. We want to get on before all of the nice seats are taken." Jared, the younger of the two Leto's, and the one that was in Patrick's year, told Patrick happily. He was practically jumping up and down with anticipation. "Come on!"

Patrick sighed, but followed Jared faithfully into the train. Jared was like a bundle of energy, he was always moving and, as Patrick had learnt over the past week, when he was excited, you just had to run with it. The two boys made their way down the train, winding their way past other students and awkwardly placed baggage.

Shannon disappeared into a booth along the way, waving them goodbye and wishing them good luck with the sorting.

Jared continued to weave down the corridor of the train, until he abruptly stopped in front of a booth and darted inside. Patrick nearly walked past the door, but luckily Jared was prepared for this, and grabbed Patrick's sleeve. The two boys then loaded their suitcases into the other head racks with extreme difficulty. ("Uh, Jared, did you pack a tonne of bricks in this thing?" "Patrick! Seriously, you do not need all of those books! How many did you actually bring?") It was during this unorganised chaos that two other boys walked in.

They were both first years, Patrick could tell by the way their faces echoed the way his stomach was feeling. However, both of them seemed to be quite small, as one was incredibly skinny and the other was rather short.

An awkward silence filled the booth as both groups of boys stared at each other.

Patrick shifted awkwardly in the silence, he felt the train pull away from the station, and the London scenery started drifting past them. He hated stand offs that seemed to go on for far too long. He needed to say something. He was going to say something. Yeah...

"I like... Cake?"

Oh well done, Patrick congratulated himself sourly, as three pairs of eyes turned to give him the patented WTF look.

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**Oh poor poor Patrick. I'm so mean to him ^.^**

**Yeah Jared's an irritating little kid isn't he? Don't worry, it's only because he was excited. He gets all moody next chapter. Maybe.**

**I KNOW NOTHING'S REALLY HAPPENING AND IT'S NOT ACTUALLY THAT FUNNY. But that's because I have a load of ideas for when the get to Hogwarts. And they aren't there yet.**

**This also has an actual storyline. Really. I promise you.**

**I know Brendon's a jerk too.. But he'll make it up with Mikey. OH. And I've sort of messed with the ages of the brothers, but if someone is a younger brother, they still ARE a younger brother...**

**And with that, I'm going to leave you. Figure that one out :3**

**REVIEW PLZ? I'LL LOVE YOU. I'LL SEND YOU A CUDDLY SHANNON LETO.**


	3. Calm Before The Storm

**A/N: Well hello again. This shall be the first update of the new year that is 2011. Happy new year folks, hope you had a good Christmas/holiday and I hope you also have a great new year. I HOPE YOU HAVE THE TIME OF YOUR LIVES. (Green Day quote ftw)**

**First of all, I want to thank all my lovely reviewers for reviewing and whatnot. You guys are awesome, I've sent all your cuddly Shannon Leto's and if they don't arrive it's because they have been mis-sent to India. If you live in India, it is now your lucky day! Also, if you decide to read these probably crazy authors notes, I want to thank you just for reading this story. You're cool. I like you. I'll love you if you review. Not convincing? Bah, I don't care. **

**I have a confession to make. I have partially written up the next chapter. But, over the next three weeks, I have three science exams. And this are the big ones, as in, if I don't revise, I've probably ruined my chances of ever becoming what I may want to be. So, what I'm trying to say is, I probably won't be able to update for a wee while. I'm very sorry. Sue my school or something. (or just kill my Chemistry teacher. She's a hag) I promise that whenever I can I'll continue to write the story down, so when I do come back, I can update pretty mega quickly.**

**Anywho, read this chapter. Tell me what you think. It is another filler. I am guilty. BUT, the next chapter is one I need to put a lot into and if I mess it up I'm majorly screwed and whatnot. I hope you enjoy it, leave me your reviews, leave me your Patrick Stump's.**

**Now read it, go on, you know you want too.**

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Alex skipped down the corridor of the Hogwarts express in the manliest way possible; In other words, not very.

He was searching for his and his friends booth, which he had lost track of after he had rushed away for an urgent toilet break just as the Hogwarts express had rolled out of platform 9 ¾. It was now steaming away quite quickly out of London, the houses and apartments on either side of the tracks becoming a blur; the inhabitants unaware of the magical train that had just rushed by.

Unfortunately, by some strange coincidence, the old dumpy looking witch that wheeled the trolley of glorious wizarding foods had decided to do her rounds extremely early.

"Nuts..." Alex muttered, annoyed at the situation he had found himself in.

There was no way he could squeeze past the trolley, despite being skinny, and he was pretty sure the lady wouldn't let him past. She looked grumpy. Alex then instantly decided that was an understatement, as she practically threw a pumpkin pie into a long haired boy's face.

Alex decided not to push his luck, and started searching for a place to bunk down for a couple of minutes. He looked into the booth he was standing next too. It was full of older girls who appeared to be giggling loudly. Maybe not. He backtracked to the toilet, only to find it was occupied.

"Damnit." Alex muttered staring balefully at the slowly approaching angry trolley witch, panicking slightly. He didn't want to get on the bad side of a professor... Or whatever her job title was, on his first day of school!

Screw this, he thought, and calmly walked into the nearest booth.

He was met with the stares of two girls and a boy.

"Um... Hi?" Alex said, trying to remain calm. This was totally normal. He was only barging into their booth to hide. "My name's Alex... I'm hiding from the scary food trolley witch person?"

The atmosphere relaxed, and Alex felt welcomed enough to take a seat next to the other boy. The boy then turned to Alex and quickly introduced himself as Jeremy Davis.

The two girls then followed; Hayley Williams & Becca Smith.

Alex returned the friendly smiles the trio offered him, feeling immensely glad that he had walked into a booth with people who were nice.

"So what year are you in Alex?" Becca asked, putting down the book she had been reading. It was titled _Across the Nightingale Floor_ by Lian Hearn.

"Oh, this is my first year..."

Hayley grinned, "Same for all of us."

Jeremy smiled slightly, "If you don't mind, but did you know you were a wizard before the letter?"

Alex was baffled by the question... Of course he knew, didn't everyone...? No, wait! Alex very nearly hit himself. Of course, not everyone had come from the same upbringing as he had. His mum had told him not to be so ignorant.

"Anything from the trolley!" The trolley witch called from the door, startling Alex from his reverie. He looked at her, expecting to find her still looking angry, but was surprised to see that she seemed happy. Maybe it was just that one kid; or that one booth. Alex wondered what they could have done.

"Hey, Alex?" Jeremy waved a Bertie Bott's wrapper in front of Alex's eyes. "Are you going to get anything? The lady's waiting?" Alex sensed some teasing in the last sentence, but smiled along.

"Of course I'm going too Jeremy" He replied mockingly, grinning wickedly at Jeremy, who grinned back.

Alex brought himself some pumpkin juice, and his own packet of Bertie Bott's every flavour beans. Becca and Hayley both brought their own food, and with a cheery wave, the trolley witch disappeared down the corridor, humming a lively tune.

"She didn't seem that angry." Hayley said, grabbing at her chocolate frog as it leapt towards Becca's head in attempt at freedom.

"She did from far away," Alex replied moodily, and pouted playfully.

"So, did you know?" Jeremy asked again, cutting back to the conversation they were having.

Alex swallowed his mouthful of pumpkin juice and nodded, "Yeah, I grew up in an all wizard village. I think it's the only one apart from Hogsmeade in the United Kingdom." He took another swig of Pumpkin juice, "It's called Hollow Bastion, you might of heard of it.."

Becca looked up from her book again, "They mention it in _The History of Magic in the United Kingdom..._ I've never been there though."

Jeremy nodded, "I've heard of it too, my parents talk about it a lot... Both of my parents are pure-blood... So they talk about it as some holy place."Jeremy scowled, as if that annoyed him.

"I've never heard it," Hayley spoke up, "But I come from a human family who had never heard anything about the wizarding world except for my letter. Luckily my neighbour knew all about Hogwarts. It's the only reason I managed to get here in the first place."

An awkward silence followed, as the train chugged along the track and the outside scenery flashed past.

Suddenly Alex's palm shot to his forehead, "Crap! I'm sorry guys but I have to go... my friends are going to kill me! They'll think I've been killed or something. I'll see you at the sorting!" He stood, pushed the sliding door open, waved at his new friends and started making his way back to his original booth.

Luckily, he made it back without any further 'incidents'.

As soon as he opened the door, a strong smell of pumpkin pie wafted over him.

"Alex! Dude, where have you been?" Jack, his dark haired friend, asked straight away.

Zack and Rian contented themselves with nibbling their pumpkin pies and sending Alex 'Yeah, dude, where have you been?' looks.

"I had to wait in some other apartment for the trolley witch to pass by." Alex explained, popping a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean into his mouth.

He was genuinely surprised when it turned out to be strawberry flavour. Normally, all the strawberry flavoured beans were eaten within the first five seconds of the packet being opened, by a certain Rian. Rian may or may not be completely obsessed with all things strawberry... Rian was also annoyingly good at noticing expressions and seemingly, reading thoughts.

"What are you smiling at Alex? Was there a girl in this booth?" Rian asked, waggling his eyebrows. ("Ooooooh, a girl!" came from both Jack and Zack.)

Alex rolled his eyes, "There was, but that's not why I'm smiling."

Rian suddenly gasped, "You just ate a strawberry bean, didn't you!"

"Might have..." Alex replied shiftily, an evil looking smirk on his face.

Jack groaned loudly, while Zack head butted the window muttering in an undertone "Here we go again..."

"ALEX, HOW COULD YOU!"

~~~~~.~~~~~

Jared and Patrick stared at the two boys sat opposite them. The awkward hole of awkwardness that Patrick had successfully dug, then dug even deeper, was still hanging around. Not a word had been said since the trolley had been for food. Every so often a rustle could be heard as someone reached for more nutrition.

Patrick decided to attempt breaking the awkward silence again. He waited for at least five minutes, until he was positive that he had the right question.

"Do either of you play an instrument?" The statement hung in the air awkwardly.

Patrick instantly felt Jared giving him the 'I thought you had learnt your lesson from the first time you said something stupidly awkward!'

Patrick retaliated with his own, specially made 'I'm only a 'muggle' leave me alone' look.

Jared rolled his eyes and looked out of the window with a sour expression on his face.

"That was weird." One of the other boys spoke. He had short curly hair and wore a scarf around his neck. He'd introduced himself as 'George, call me Ryan, Ross'.

The other boy, who introduced himself as Frank Iero, replied with "It was like they were having conversations with their _eyes._"

Jared decided to rejoin the conversation. By changing the subject; Again.

"Anyone know what house they're going to be in?"

Ryan and Frank instantly started chattering loudly about the houses. Patrick shot Jared a 'Thank you' look.

"I think I'll be in Ravenclaw..."

"...Still not sure about where I'm going to be. I hope I'm not in Slytherin, that's still the dark house-"

Jared's head shot up at the mention of Slytherin. "There's nothing wrong with Slytherin."

Awkward silence. Patrick thanked his lucky stars that he actually knew what the Hogwarts houses were. He promised himself that he would find a book that explained everything about Hogwarts. He liked knowing what was going on.

Ryan frowned slightly and said, "They say nearly everyone who joined You-Know-Who was from Slytherin. That's gotta count for something."

Jared's normally friendly face turned stormy. His blue ice eyes seemed to lose their normal spark, and instead just looked cold.

Patrick didn't know who this 'You-Know-Who' was. Why couldn't people just say his name? It would make things so much easier. He cursed his lucky stars for not telling him.

"That was when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was actually here. He's gone now. Harry Potter killed him. He's gone and so are all his followers." Jared stood up and glowered at Ryan and Frank. He grabbed his school uniform, and turned to Patrick. "I'm going to talk to Shannon. I'll meet up with you again at the sorting. If you stay with these guys, I'm sure you'll be fine."

Jared walked out and, shut the door in a could-almost-be-classed-as-slamming way.

Frank and Ryan looked at Patrick. Patrick looked at Frank and Ryan.

Frank spoke first, obviously trying to get something in before Patrick blurted out whatever was on his mind, "What did he glare at me for? Is there something wrong with Ravenclaw? Did I accidently spit at him or something...?"

Ryan ignored Frank; instead he fiddled with his scarf and stared with confused eyes at the door. He glanced at Patrick, "Should I go and apologize?"

Patrick shook his head. "Don't bother; it'll probably work out better if you just leave it. Besides, aren't we nearly at Hogwarts?"

Frank shrugged, to busy trying to figure out why he got glared at as well. Ryan, on the other hand, pressed his nose against the window.

"You know what?" He stated after several moments.

"What?" Frank queried.

"I can't tell." Ryan said.

Patrick smiled as Frank groaned. Ryan grinned cheekily and swiftly changed the subject to Quidditch; was appalled at Patrick's lack of knowledge of the 'greatest sport in the world'; and continued to instruct Patrick on all the rules.

~~~~~~~ UNFANCYTIMESKIPDUETOLOWBUDGET~~~~~~~

Mikey looked down on the school robes which he had hastily shoved over the top of his jeans and hoody. They felt weird. Or maybe that was because he was wearing them back to front.

Ray, one of the two boys that was sharing a booth with Mikey and Gerard, looked over at him.

"Hey, Mikey..."

Gerard looked over at his brother and stifled a laugh. Joe, the fourth inhabitant of the booth, looked over as well, and laughed extremely loudly.

Mikey glowered at the three other boys, but swiftly turned his robes the right way round.

Joe peered at the window, trying to see past the light reflections. "I believe we have finally arrived at our destination!" He spun, and pushed through the others, reaching for the door.

Many students were milling around in the corridor outside, eager to get outside the stuffy train.

"I don't know why they are so eager to get out. That rain looks nasty." Ray mused aloud, gazing outside.

Gerard hmm'd an agreement, but was concentrating on the corridor, "Is it free yet?" he asked Joe.

Joe poked his head out into the corridor, yelped, and quickly pulled his head back through the door.

A group of older girls rushed past, giggling and talking at an incredibly high speed.

"That was close." Joe muttered, patting at his hair as if he was checking that it was still all there. He sighed.

Gerard repeated the sigh, and looked around the small booth. All the boys' suitcases were carefully stashed on the top rails, they had been told to leave them there as they would be taken up to the castle later. However, something caught his eye. As Gerard looked down from the rails, a very suspicious look on Ray's face made him pause... "Ray..."

"LET'S GOOO-!" Ray leapt forward, pushed into Joe's back, and propelled the both of them down the corridor.

Mikey laughed and ran after them, following them down the corridor of the train and outside into the rainy weather. Gerard,on the other hand, trailed behind, shaking his head in mock disappointment.

* * *

**I really enjoyed writing this chapter. It was just a complete mess around, introduce more characters, have a laugh chapter. This is probably what the majority of the later chapters will be like. Just with added story-line, point and magic. Probably.**

**SUMMARY SO FAR: They all be wizards. Rian is obsessed with strawberrys. (all together now - awwwww) Ray is super hper for some reason, Jared went off in a stroppy pants because Ryan said something, Frank doesn't get what's happening.**

**Personal update: MCR ON THE NINETEENTH OF FEBRUARY. FFYEAAAAH.**

**Also, a congratualtions to Annabel for having spotted the 'suspicous line'. You only get told what it means unless you turn into Professor Layton and figure it out.**

**A thank you to Becca for letting me use her lovely self as a character. Seriously rock industry, why don't you have more females?**

**And another thank you to Laura, Kirsten & Jade, for reading this, being weird, and helping me understand when I'm completely wrong.**

**If you've read this far, you officially rock.**


	4. Everlong

**A/N: *adjusts non-exsistant glasses* Well, hello there people. It's been exactly thirty days since I last updated this fic. BLAME MY SCHOOL. I had three Science exams, a French exam, three maths exams and I've just been dumped with Physics coursework. BUT, I continued writing cause I'm just that badass. This is my longest chapter so far. I'm sorry if ones after this start getting shorter...**

***tries to think of something reasonable to put here* OH. IT'S TWELVE DAYS TILL I SEE THE LOVELY MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE. If you've already seen them, shhh. If you haven't had the chance to see them yet, don't worry. You'll see them one day! The gig I'm going to is about three hundred miles away from me :D Committment right there.**

**WHOA KAY THEN. Major thank yous to all of you who have reviewed, read, looked at, laughed at, smiled or enjoyed this fic. It's on;y just starting. Now, go read my peons. READ, UNTIL YOUR LUNGS GIVE OUT.**

* * *

ack, Alex, Rian and Zack stood in the rain. It appeared as though the weather had been holding out all day, and had saved all the rain for as soon as the Hogwarts Express and pulled into the station. Now, as the first years waited for the boats at the edge of the lake, the weather appeared to mocking them.

"I'm really cold" Zack moaned.

"I'm colder." Alex shot back.

"I'm coldest." Jack interjected, pouting.

"All of you, shut up before I hurt you." Rian butted into the conversation, sounding annoyed.

"Sorry..." The three others murmured back, sounding like chastised puppies

There was a silence, within which the wind could be heard rustling the leaves in the trees, and dropping large water droplets on the students who were 'clever' enough to stand underneath the trees. The sounds belonging to the carriages of the older years had long since faded away as they travelled up to Hogwarts castle proper. The only sounds that could now be heard, was the occasional mumblings of the first years and Hagrid's more than occasional complaining about 'th' lateness of these things'.

Zack kicked a stone and watched it tumble down the jetty wall into the lake. Alex clutched his cloak closer to his skinny frame in an attempt to keep warm. Jack sighed, and swayed side to side, knocking into Rian.

After several minutes of being swayed in to, Rian spoke, "What are we actually waiting for?"

Alex looked over at Rian and shrugged. However, instead of turning away, he continued to look over the other boys shoulder, "Hagrid's coming, you guys." He said.

Rian turned, and was unsurprised to see most of the other first years where doing the same. This was, of course, because Hagrid was forcing his way through the crowd, parting the surprised first years like someone would part a bowl of tomato soup. Or some kind of sea, per say.

"I'm hungry." Zack grumbled, looking longingly up at the lights of the castle that twinkling mockingly from the other side of the lake.

"I'm hungrier." Alex mumbled back.

Jack elbowed them both in the ribs as a sign to shut up.

Hagrid reached the front of the huddle of students. He stood at the end of the jetty and peered out across the lake, water droplets from the rain dripping down his beard and collecting in little pools in the creases in his cloak.

"All righ' you lot, listen up." Hagrid boomed over the sound of the rain. His statement was unnecessary however, as everyone was already waiting for him to speak. "Th' boats are a little late but I'm sure they'll be here soon. Jus' hold tight and don't go anywhere."

"It's not like we could go anywhere." Alex pointed out loudly, as everyone started complaining loudly.

Hagrid turned his dark eyed gaze to Alex and his friends. He scrutinized them for a couple of moments, obviously trying to place their faces to names. Suddenly, a large smile broke across his face, and he laughed.

"I know who you four are! You're this year's lot from Hollow Bastion!"

Alex's mouth dropped open in shock. Jack, noticing his friend's sudden inability to speak, opted instead to voice his thoughts. "How'd you know, Hagrid?"

"Well, it's the look in yer eyes isn't it?" Hagrid stated, as if the fact should already have been obvious.

"Errr..."

"Hey, look! There's something on the lake!" A brown haired girl exclaimed from just behind Zack.

Zack, who was so startled by the fact someone had yelled from right behind his ear, fell into the lake.

"ARGH! ... Blub?" Zack had been in the water for roughly two seconds before Hagrid had reached down and pulled him out

"Oh, um. Thanks Hagrid." Zack mumbled, his cheeks reddening as several people laughed at his outburst.

As Hagrid slowly replaced Zack back onto the ground, Alex leaned over to whisper: "Remember, they're laughing at you, not with you!"

Zack swatted at his friend, but couldn't help but laugh smile along with him. After all, it was kind of funny. Kind of.

Hagrid, after checking that Zack hadn't lost any limbs, started to re-organise the first years so that they would be ready for the fast approaching boats. After a minute of partially controlled chaos, the whole of the first year were neatly arranged into groups of four.

Zack felt miserable after his little dip in the lake, but the sight of many brightly lit boats, the thought of warm food and his friends being idiots around him, cheered him up slightly. Also the fact that he'd soon be out of the rain helped too. He wanted warm, dry clothes like a chicken wanted to fly.

However, as they were still waiting, the rain continued to beat down on the young wizards. As soon as the boats arrived, they piled quickly, and in some cases shakily, into the boats. It seemed like the boats were unhappy with the weather as the students were, as the sped very quickly across the lake. Quicker than the four boys would have liked, they were arriving in a lakeside cavern, situated directly under the Hogwarts castle. Each boat gently nudged itself close to the shore, allowing its four passengers to easily disembark.

Alex leapt out first, wobbled, but recovered quick enough to turn and help the others out of the boat.

A stern looking witch was waiting for them; she introduced herself as Professor McGonnagall. Hagrid smiled cheerily at her, before walking up a large staircase the led upwards towards the castle.

"Please, follow me students." The Professor said, turned, and swiftly walked up the same stairs Hagrid has just walked up.

"She seems pleased to see us." Alex mumbled, to laughs from the gathered around him. He seemed pleased with the reception, and made to phrase another comment, but was pushed forward by an impatient Zack.

"You have time for stand up later! I'm cold and I want food." Zack said.

Alex huffed, but started up the stairs, quickly followed by Zack. Rian and Jack held back, letting most of the other witches and wizards walk in front of them. This may or may not have been because Jack had managed to accidently step back _into_ the lake.

Rian was still trying to figure out how he had been so stupid.

"Jack, how did you step _back_ into the water?"

Jack sent murder glares up from the floor, where he was trying to charm the water out of his trouser leg, shoe and sock. "There were some girls... Thought the boat was closer... _Watera Dispersa!"_

"That's not a spell." A girl's voice said.

"Shut up. Anyway, the boat moved, I fell back, the girls laughed. The end." Jack looked up and noticed the other participant in the conversation. "Wait. Who are you?"

She was the very same brown-haired girl who had startled Jack into falling into the water. She blinked at Jack before answering. "My name's Laura. And that's still not a spell." She half-smiled at Jack, who stared back at her with his mouth half open. Laura then turned, and walked quickly towards the staircase, catching up with the last of the other students.

Jack stared after her, now with his mouth shut. He glared at his sodden trousers, "Of course I know it's not a spell... _Aqua Vanisha!"_ He prodded his saturated clothing with the tip of his wand. Nothing happened.

Rian sighed, and pulled on Jack's sleeve. "Jaaaaaaaaaaack, everyone else is already gone and you're a B! If you we're late you're screwed!"

Jack stood, but made no move towards the staircase, he looked suspiciously at his friend. "What's me being a B got anything to with anything Rian...?"

"The sorting is alphabetical." Came the reply.

Jack bolted for the stairs, leaving a one-footed soggy trail of footprints. He leapt up to stairs before stopping halfway up. "Rian! You're a D!"

Rian choked on some air, before managing to spit out "Shit!"

Together the two boys sprinted up the stairs, hoping they hadn't missed their names.

"Students! Could you please stand in last name alphabetical order for the sorting! We'll be going in- oh, dear. No pushing please!" Professor McGonnogall cried out, attempting to bring the students to order.

Several kids had managed, somehow, to form a small pile on the floor. A short-ish brown haired girl with glasses had somehow managed to end up at the bottom.

Brendon watched with mild amusement as Professor McGonnagall circled the pile of bodies before stepping back, pulling her wand from her sleeve and, rather grandly, proclaimed "_Wingardium Leviosa!"_

Utter silence followed as the three kids on the top of the pile floated upwards, allowing those underneath to make a quick escape. The small brunette stood abruptly, brushed some dirt off her shoulders, but seemed otherwise unbothered by the whole experience.

Professor McGonagall took advantage of the silence, and quickly ordered the students into alphabetical order again. Brendon grumbled moodily, but trudged to the back of the hall they were standing in, nearly getting over by two boys running back the other way screaming "Don't leave me behind! I'm a B!" and "It was all Jack's fault! He got his trousers wet!"

Brendon couldn't think of anything reasonable to say to that.

He reached the back of the mass of students and waited for everyone else to get themselves sorted. Being at the end of the register certainly had its benefits sometimes.

When everyone appeared to be in order, and the noise level had quietened somewhat, Professor McGonagall spoke once more.

"You are the youngest year coming into Hogwarts, and as some of you may know, the school is split up into houses..."

Brendon tuned out and decided to look around the entrance hall instead. It was definitely the coolest room he'd ever been in. He could just about make out the grand staircase over the fro's of the two boys in front of him. He looked around for doors on the staircase, but couldn't make any out as the stairs kept moving and blocking his view. Brendon knew reading _Hogwarts: a history_ had been a good idea when his grandma gave it to him for his last birthday.

Suddenly, just as Brendon noticed the hourglass' that portrayed the houses housepoints, something swooped over his head. Brendon leapt to the side, knocking into a several other students. Whatever it was, it had nailed the evil laugh.

"Peeves! You know that you're not meant to be here!" Professor McGonagall yelled over the scared yelps of the students.

Brendon frantically looked around for whatever had just zoomed over his head.

"What's going on?" A thin curly haired boy asked after he was accidently shoved into Brendon.

"Not a clue." Brendon replied, too preoccupied with the panic spreading through the room to really care about answering properly.

Suddenly, movement over the crowd caught Brendon's attention, and he looked over, just catching a vague human shape appearing over a dark haired boys head. "Hey, you!" Brendon shouted out; see exactly what was going to happen.

Two things occurred in the next moments. One, the boy turned around sharply to face Brendon (truth be told, most of the people turned around to face Brendon. "Hey, you!" isn't as specific as some people would like to think) and Brendon instantly recognised him as Gerard; one of the two boys who he'd become acquainted with at the train station.

Secondly, Peeves, or whatever the hell the evil-laughter-pro was, dropped what appeared to be an abnormally large book. Straight on Gerard's head.

Gerard's eyes widened almost comically as the book came into contact with his head. He wobbled slightly, caught between reality and unconsciousness before falling over sideways.

~Ray Toro's point of view.

As soon as Gerard went down, all hell broke loose. Some girls started screaming and the Scottish teacher, who I'd forgotten the name of already, started shouting _really_ loudly.

Across the room, some brown haired kid was giving the unconscious form of Gerard a weird look. It was kind of intense, as if he was stuck between what to think. Maybe he already knew Gerard. But still, that was a seriously weird look... In fact, it was sort of creepy.

I quickly looked away as I realised he'd now turned to look at me.

Awkward moment was interrupted by Joe panicking next to me and Professor McGonagall (I didn't remember her name. Joe was just chanting it as if he was trying to summon her or something) was about two octaves higher then she was and pointing her wand at Peeves.

"Peeves, this is the last straw! The Bloody Baron will be informed and I'm sure the headmaster will be informed of this! I'm sure they'll find a way to deal with you appropriately and then they'll... And then- well. We'll see won't we?"

Peeves cackled like a patient from St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. "What's the matter, Gonnygall? Griffin got your toungue?"

Something blue shot from the tip of McGonagall's wand and hit peeves directly in what would have been his torso if he'd been a human. He seemed to deflate slightly, before shooting out of the room, once again cackling manically.

I hope I never have to meet him ever again. I also realize how likely it is that within the next seven years I will see him again.

Professor McGonagall muttered angrily as she pushed her way through the stunned crowd to kneel beside Gerard, who was still out of it on the floor.

"Is he going to be okay?" Mikey asked worriedly, his eyes wide. He and Joe could be worry pals together.

McGonagall glanced at Mikey, but didn't reply. Instead, she gently patted Gerard's shoulder. I don't know how it worked, but Gerard's eyes fluttered and he shifted slightly.

"Ow, shit. My head!" He groaned, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. He then opened his eyes and realised that Professor McGonagall and the whole year were listening to what he was saying. Which just had to be a swear word.

This guy was smooth. About as smooth as a pineapple though.

"Excuse me, Mr Way!" McGonagall spluttered out, her eyes practically popping out of their sockets.

Strangely enough, the whole encounter with Peeves, nor the fact that one of her first year students had been knocked unconscious. However, if previously mentioned student swore, oh, hell hath no fury like a McGonagall sworn around...

Gerard focused on the Professor, mouthed 'Oh, shit' before saying "Hi, am I late for the sorting?"

Mikey laugh-snorted, which in turn, nearly made me laugh. Mikey's laugh is adorable; there is no other way to describe it. Apparently some other people agreed with my cute laugh theory, as there were several awww's.

McGonagall was having none of it though, and waved her hand. She gazed back down at Gerard, who was looking at Mikey.

"Mr Way," McGonagall said in an attempt to catch Gerard's attention. Both brothers looked at her. She continued to talk too just Gerard. "I shall let this incident slide due to the..." Her eyes flickered around the room. "Unusual circumstances... But, language like that shall not be tolerated at Hogwarts." She raised an eyebrow. "Do I make myself clear?"

Gerard blinked, he still looked completely out of it, but nodded anyway.

"Good." The Professor stood up, leaving Mikey, Joe and me to help Gerard stagger to his feet.

"I thought we were meant to be subtle?" Mikey whispered to Gerard in what appeared to be a slightly evil way.

Gerard replied by 'accidently' elbowing his brother in the ribs.

Mikey pouted, opened his mouth to retort again, but stopped when me and Joe both poked him in the shoulder.

I poked him because McGonagall was once again trying to gain silence, and was glaring at us as if we were some form of bacteria. Also, poking Mikey turned out to be extremely satisfying when Mikey squealed and jumped in the air.

I shared an evil look with Joe.

"Boys, can you tell me what I just said?"

I stared at Professor McGonagall. Oh, I hate it when people pull that on me. I hadn't even realised she'd been talking. Um. Quick, brain! Think of something reasonable! Bananas, monkeys, hot chocolate, fable, ghosts, Joe's fro!

Wait, why is Joe standing in front of me mouthing words?

I stared at him.

He stared at me.

I finally understood what he was trying to do.

"You told us to line up in alphabetical order again?"

Joe grinned. Professor McGonagall looked less annoyed.

"Well, at least some people were listening." McGonagall looked specifically at Joe.

How did she know I hadn't been listening? It wasn't that obvious... Maybe she had some kind of magic powers. Wait. Of course she did. Never mind.

"Okay, it's time for the sorting." McGonagall said suddenly.

The large, ornate doors that I hadn't really noticed until now swung outwards revealing a large hall beyond. Strangely enough, it looked like it was open air. All the other people who were above me in the register crowded in first, and I could hear all the students in the upper years rushing to stand up and catch a glimpse at us.

Beside me, Joe was fidgeting like a maniac, and several paces behind us I could see Mikey trying to support Gerard. Strangely enough, one of the kids between us was the very same boy who was giving Gerard the weird look earlier. He didn't look so creepy now. But he was keeping his head down. I'd have to ask him what the looks were all about.

Well, that could wait until after the ceremony of course.

Right now, I was too busy concentrating on not falling over and trying to make sure I didn't walk into Joe. It would have been his fault if I did. He seemed to have lost all ability to walk straight.

I gazed up towards the ceiling; it really did seem to open air. The clouds above were dark and stormy, with rain pouring out in torrents. Luckily, the rain was stopped about ten feet above our heads. I didn't want to get wet again. When my hair gets wet, it's a complete nightmare to untangle. I'm sure it would be bad enough as it was. Also, despite the fact that the ceiling looked completely unwelcoming, the hall was warm, and felt like a cosy cottage. It felt homely.

"It's enchanted" A boy said behind me. I turned, and the voice belonged to none other than Weird-Look kid.

"You what?" Joe said.

The boy quirked an eyebrow, "Didn't you know? It's enchanted to show the weather from the outside."

"I feel like this has been said before..." Joe said after a pause.

I agreed. However, Weird-Look seemed to take it the wrong way...

"Are you saying I stole that line of someone?"

I shook my head. "I don't think you stole it... I just feel like someone else may have said that first..."

We glanced around the hall.

Unfortunately, everyone went quiet just at that moment, so any thoughts of continuing that conversation were pushed to the back of my mind.

I turned to face the front of the hall just as a thin wizard with fluffly looking hair stood up to gold lecturn.

He smiled cheerfully, his eyes scanning everyone in the room, "Welcome to Hogwarts!"

* * *

**CLIFFHANGER (sort of) BECAUSE I'M A BAD PERSON AND THIS CHAPTER WAS GETTING FAR TOO LONG xD**

**So, um. Please don't hurt me for knocking Gee unconscious, making Brendon a freak, making Ray's point of view really weird and making Jack, Alex, Zack and Rian complete idiots.**

**Hollow Bastion is not my name. I stole it from Kingdom Hearts. It's not technically called Hollow Bastion anywho, so... Yeah.**

**Rightio. The next chapter might take a bit longer to appear, as I haven't even started writing it yet. I meant to do the sorting in this chapter. WHY DID THIS CHAPTER END UP SO LONG? IT MAKES NO SENSE.**

**Please review. I shall give you... A cutting of Tomo's hair, One of Dom Howard's many arms and a Shannon Appreciation Society Hoodie.**

**You know you want too, my lovely peons. (totally my fans names now. BLAME SCRUBS.)**


	5. Wake Me Up When September Ends

**A/N: I'VE JUST BEEN TYPING THIS UP FOR ABOUT FOUR HOURS. OKAY. I USED MY AMAZING NINJA TYPING SKILLS TO UPDATE THIS AS QUICK AS POSSIBLE BECAUSE I PROMISED xD**

**Although, I probably shan't be updating for a while, seeing as I have yet more exams, two concerts, some birthday parties, and a whole lot of other stuff that will distract me from typing up. Don't worry though, I shall continue writing down what's happening next in my trusty notepad :3**

**This chapter, was meant to be a part of the last chapter. But due to me being unable to condense things, they ended up being two completely independant, extrememly long chapters. Booyah.**

**This chapter is written in the points of veiw of our favourite Gerard Way and Zachary Merrick. I'm sorry if anything is completely weird, like the descriptions of any of the places. Most of them I had to creep on the Harry Potter Wiki sight and go from the descriptions from there. Sorry if they're terrible :D**

**So, a giant thank you, to all of you that have reviewed. Thank you so much. Also, some more thank yous to Kirsten, Laura, Becca & Annabel for being interested in the story and giving me permission to use thier lovely selves in this story. When I get the time to place them in, that is.**

**Happy reading.**

* * *

"Welcome to Hogwarts!"

~Gerard Way's point of view~

Blink. Blink. Blinky blink blink.

I tried focusing again. Nope. It was getting better, but everything still looked like something drawn by a five year old. I sighed. Mikey gave me a worried look. I scowled at him. He 'humphed' and continued listening to some guy, I presume he was the headmaster, giving a speech.

He certainly looked like Matt Bellamy, the current headmaster. If only I could see properly, I thought to myself wistfully. Wait. I had a brother standing next to me.

"Psst. Mikey!"

"What?"

"Is that Matt Bellamy?"

"Why? Are you having trouble seeing?" Mikey scanned my face, looking anxious. "Gee, I really think...-"

"Is it him or not?" I snapped, causing several older students on the nearby tables to turn and stare.

Mikey rolled his eyes and peered over the fros the of Joe and Ray. "Yeap, it's definitely him."

Wow. How cool was that? Before becoming the new Hogwarts headmaster, Professor Bellamy had been a Auror. And, although not many people credited him for his work, everyone did know that he had played a large part in helping clear up after Voldemort had been killed by Harry Potter. He was one of the only Auror's who hadn't asked for the press coverage. Hence the fact not many people credited him for his work...

As well as that, he was pretty much the only reason Hogwarts was still running. He had helped with the rebuilding process, and had tried his best to get everyone's trust restored in sending their kids away. I'm pretty sure my parents didn't need convincing though. Mum practically idolises Professor Bellamy. I wasn't too sure about Dad, but he was at the ministry so often that he normally had the same view as everyone else that worked there.

Professor Bellamy cleared his throat and knocked me out of my musings. His head, which looked more like a blob to me, appeared to be turned this way. I attempted to look like I was paying attention. Professor Bellamy carried on talking.

"Apart from that, there's no other news, deaths, disasters, staff replacements or places you aren't allowed to go to! Now, it's my great pleasure to welcome all of the new students that are currently standing down there. I did have an inspirational speech planned." Everyone groaned, some even headbutted the table. "But, seeing as your all probably very hungry, I won't make you wait any longer then you have to... Let the sorting begin!" Professor Bellamy threw his arms up in the air. At least, I think he did. I'm not that sure.

A stool appeared at the front of the hall, and on top of the stool sat your stereotypical wizard hat. Of course, it wasn't your actual stereotypical hat. It was the almighty, all-knowing sorting hat. I may have been joking with the almighty and all-knowing. It's more sarcastic and pessimistic.

There was an almost expectant silence, as everyone in the hall craned their necks to try and catch a glimpse of the hat.

The hat coughed and grumbled moodily, "I refuse to perform while I am ill. You shall have to wait for my new masterpiece."

The teachers seemed relieved, but a lot of the students looked strangely disappointed. I had no idea what the hat was talking about.

Professor McGonagall wasted no time however, and instantly started reeling off names from the piece of parchment she had in her hands. The hall remained respectfully quiet, until the hat chose a suitable house for the person whose head it was placed upon. Then, the house of choice erupted into cheering. It was especially loud when I was standing next to the older students, who practically screamed in my ear every time someone was placed into their house.

I glanced across at my brother, who's fidgeting, pulling at his robes and lifting his head up in an attempt to look taller. I didn't blame him for being nervous. This was a test to see if he was good enough. We'd been promised entry, but after that? After that, we were on our own. At least we were in together. More reason to thank Professor Bellamy.

Of course, he wasn't the only one that felt nervous. I'm sure every other kid that was lining up in the centre of the hall was feeling some form of anxiety.

Apart from that Brendon kid, he probably didn't feel emotions... I chuckled evilly to myself at that thought.

McGonagall had stormed down the list of names, and was currently on D...

"Davis, Jeremy."

A tawny haired boy shuffled up to the stool and grabbed the hat before shoving it on his head. I couldn't make out his facial expressions, but he appeared to be shaking. Lucky for him, he didn't have to stay that long, as the hat decided pretty quickly that he belonged in:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

A large roar erupted from the table far to the right of me as Jeremy made his way shakily to the table. As he sat down, he was greeted by several enthusiastic hugs and claps on the back from some similar looking boys. Maybe they were twins.

The sorting continued in the same pattern all the way down the list of names. Some kids took longer to sort, while others had barely even placed the hat on their head before it screamed out where they belonged. It was highly amusing to watch.

I was half listening to the sorting (McGonogall had just called for "Montano, Annabel") when a voice behind me made me jump.

"Hey, uh, are you okay?"

I turned to see who had spoken, and realised it was a small brown eyed boy, who wasn't even speaking to me. In fact, he was looking directly at Mikey.

I did a quick glance at my brother, whose face was paler than before and his hands were shaken quite violently.

"Mikes..." I started, feeling like the tables had turned somewhat.

"I'm fine, just a little nervous. I think the boat trip's getting to me." Mikey explained quickly, not really talking to us but just stating the fact.

Mini-Brunette nodded, flashing a large smile, obviously not picking up on Mikey's abruptness, "Don't worry, once you start eating, you'll be fine. My mum told me the food's great!" He cocked his head to the side slightly, still grinning, "It's Pete, by the way."

"WAY, GERARD!" McGonagall screeched.

I jumped, and stared around me. It was my time already? Oh, crap crap crap crap. I turned to face the front of the hall and tried to walk as calmly and confidently towards the stool. I glanced back at Mikey once, to see that his face was practically expressionless, but was distracted when I walked past McGonagall, who seemed to enjoy glaring at me. Oh, how I hope I'm not in Gryffindor with her...

In an attempt to not fall over, I kept blinking as rapidly as possible. The distance to the chair seemed to stretch out, as if I was walking down one of those creepy never ending corridors. Oh, man. I could feel a headache coming on... Just when I thought I was going to be walking for ages, suddenly, I was there. The scruffy hat felt huge as I picked it up, sat on the stool and placed it on my head.

It fell down to just below my eyes, blocking out everything. I wondered how stupid I looked, with this overlarge hat draped over my eyes and gripped the stool even harder to prevent more of a case of humiliation. I didn't need to fall off the stool; fainting was enough for one day.

"Gerard, is it?" A hoarse voice whispered into my ear. "Hmm, yes... A difficult one to place, aren't you? You're very sharp, and I can sense a strong sense of courage. And indeed, you're very ambitious..." The hat trailed off, mumbling to itself. I felt the hat shift slightly.

I thought of Professor McGonagall, and instantly started a mantra within my head; 'Not Gryffindor, not Gryffindor, _not Gryffindor!'_

The hat chuckled darkly, "Aren't you determined? Only a few others have ever had the courage to do that with me before... Any other preferences?"

I was pretty sure the sorting hat was mocking me, but I went for it anyway.

'Slytherin seems pretty cool?' I thought clearly, pushing the idea to the front of my mind.

"Is that so?" The hat replied, its' voice gaining a slightly condescending tone.

Sheesh, don't you just hate hats with a freaking God complex?

"I heard that." The hat said, almost indignantly "But seeing as you've been interesting..." It made a sound that sounded oddly like someone clearing their throat before shouting out "SLYTHERIN!"

I grinned in relief, and was encouraged to hear my new house cheering for me as I reached up to take the hat off my head. Just as I grasped the sides of the hat, it suddenly tightened around my head and whispered "I'm looking forward to meeting your brother..."

I didn't know what to make of that.

I quickly ripped then now limp hat off my head, before throwing it back down on the stool. Had it been... threatening me? Great. Now I'm being threatened by a hat. Did it know about Mikey? Had someone had to explain to the hat about us or had it read my anxious thoughts? Professor McGonagall was staring at me, so I decided not to waste any more time, and quickly headed towards the table that was cheering and waving.

Ray was sat at the Slytherin table, and by the time I sat down next to him, he was grinning so huge I swear even his fro was smiling too. If that's even possible, which I doubt it is. He instantly started chatting to me as soon as my butt touched the wooden bench.

"I can't believe we're in the same house! Isn't this awesome? I mean, Joe isn't here, he was placed in Gryffindor, but that's okay, we have lots of lessons with Gryffindor... This is Frank, by the way..."

I was barely listening. As soon as I had sat down, I'd twisted around to try and watch Mikey. He was already sat on the stool, the hat even further down his face than it had been on mine. I was right. I must've looked stupid. It looked as though the hat was attempting to eat his head. Mikey had been sat on the stool for about thirty seconds, when suddenly the hat yelled "SLYTHERIN!"

This time I was able to cheer with the rest of my table as Mikey made his way over. He looked a bit shaky, so I flashed him a large grin in an attempt to cheer him up. It was probably the first genuine smile I'd had since we'd arrived within Hogwarts castle.

Mikey smiled back, and took a seat opposite me, next to a boy with dark hair.

"I'm Frank." The boy helpfully introduced himself.

Oh, wait. I have a feeling Ray had already introduced us... He had mentioned a Frank, hadn't he?

"RAVENCLAW!"

Oh, yeah. There were still some more students to be sorted. I turned around once more, to see Mini-Brunette walking towards the Ravenclaw table. I made a mental note to make an attempt to try and talk to him. If he looked out for other people and not just himself, he was worth having as a friend.

Two more people left to sort. A blonde haired girl who was chewing the sleeve of her school uniform, and a brown haired boy who seemed overly agitated. They were both sorted relatively quickly; both ended up in Hufflepuff.

I allowed myself to relax. The sorting was over. Soon we'd be eating and then we'd be going back to the Slytherin dormitories and by then it would be far too late for anyone to do anything.

Right?

I didn't have time to worry myself any longer as Professor Bellamy once again resumed his place at the front of the hall.

"I must say, it's much better seeing you all sat down on your tables instead of standing. It brings a sense of normality back." The professor chuckled at his own joke. I took the brief pause to finally realise my eyesight was back. I could now clearly see that the man standing before was Matt Bellamy.

"Can we eat yet, sir?" A boy from the Hufflepuff table called out.

Professor Bellamy grinned. "Well, Mr DeLonge, I thought you would never ask. Dig in, everyone!"

Suddenly the empty plates laid out on the tables were full with food. And not just your average full, this was over-laden, spilling off the side, royalty full.

There was a resounding thud as all the first years jaws hit the floor in amazement.

There wasn't a moment's pause, everyone instantly started piling the food onto plates, and soon the hall was filled with the sound of people socializing over food. I still couldn't believe what was happening. I looked across at Mikey, who liked pretty much the same as I felt.

We stared at each other for a few seconds, before Mikey broke off, and looked around him. He quickly looked back, and quirked an eyebrow, smiling mischeviously "Are you going to eat anything?"

"Oh, hell yes."

~Zachary Merrick's point of view~

The sorting wasn't as nerve wracking as my mum had made it out to be. But then, her, Dad, and pretty much everyone else in Hollow Bastion liked to make things up about their personal stay at Hogwarts.

There were several reasons why the sorting had turned out pretty well. Firstly, the food I was now eating was absolutely perfect. It reminded me of the food that was cooked for the summer festival, when the whole village pitched in to help make enough.

Secondly, we were all in Hufflepuff. All four of us. It's not so great when you have to sit next to Alex and Jack and watch them as they try and out-eat each other. It's most definitely not something you want to see every single time you sit down to eat.

Thirdly, or lastly, or whatever, I'd already made a friend in the form of a raven haired girl called Annabel Montano. I had been worried, that seeing as I already had friends I would find it hard to create new ones. However, while we'd been queuing for the sorting I'd managed to start a conversation. I was incredibly proud of myself.

I twisted around in an attempt to find out where she'd been placed. I instantly spotted her on the Slytherin table, sat next to a boy with the same colour hair as hers. As I turned back to my plate, I realised Rian had been watching me the whole time. Curse him and his watchfulness.

I peered at him over the food. He peered back.

"Does Zacky have a girlfwiend?" Rian asked me, mockingly.

I glowered at him. "No, I was just standing next to her while we were being sorted." I shot back.

Rian quirked an eyebrow but I ignored him. Instead, I demolished the food that was on my plate.

When everyone had finished their meal, the plates vanished, only to reappear again, this time filled with a whole assortment of desserts. There was all manner of different crumbles, cakes, buns, tarts, pancakes, yoghurts and other unexplainable sweet things.

I think Jack and Alex thought they'd died and gone to heaven.

The eating frenzy commenced once again. I finished quickly, having not given myself that bigger portion to start with. I pushed my plate away and rested my arm on the table, making sure to not look over at the apparently starving humans sat next to me.

Instead, I turned to the boy next to me and introduced myself.

"Hey, I'm Zack!" I tried to say in the most cheery voice I could find.

The boy jumped slightly; obviously he was away in his own thoughts, and turned to stare at me."What?"

I blinked. "Zack. It's my name."

The boy blinked back, but smiled slightly. "Oh! I'm sorry. My names Taylor York. It's nice to meet you."

I could practically feel Rian's eyes boring holes into my head. I decided to be nice, and include him in the conversation. "Uh, Taylor? This is Rian. These two eating machines here are Jack and Alex." I gestured at them. They carried on eating, oblivious to anything else. There was no hope.

"They're really into it, aren't they?" Taylor said, quirking his mouth to the side.

Rian snorted. "Yeap, and we've got to put up with that for the next seven years..."

"Is it too late to change houses?" Taylor deadpanned.

"Hey! HEY! No swapsies! You're stuck with us!" Alex butted in, wiping his mouth with napkin.

Apparently he had some table manners that had survived the train journey. Who knew?

Jack chipped in, "Besides, you'll grow to like us. We're not all bad. Apart from Zack. He's just pure evil."

I threw a napkin at him, and he returned with one of his patented puppy dog looks, directed at not me, but at Taylor.

Taylor seemed unimpressed. "Well, I'll make up my mind on all of you when I see these better qualities, shall I?"

Rian, Alex and I shared a look of amazement. He had resisted the puppy dog look. In unison we turned to face Taylor.

"Welcome to the group, Taylor." Alex said solemnly.

Taylor was surprised by our sudden change but was unable to respond as Jack instantly started complaining.

"No fair, you can't admit someone just because they beat the puppy dog look! We need to-"

"Jack, shut up" Rian told him, as Professor Bellamy called for silence once more.

"Well," The professor started, "I don't know about you, but that was one of the best meals I've had since last term. The house elves have outdone themselves again." He craned his head up to look at the ceiling of the grand hall, which was now very nearly clear, with stars twinkling brightly. "It looks like it's getting late, and you all must be very eager for your lessons to start tomorrow morning. Especially all the first years."

I groaned. I'd forgotten about the lessons starting straight away tomorrow morning!

"Prefects, if you could group together with the first years and lead them back to the common room after everyone else has filed out. Now, you're all dismissed. Get some sleep!" Professor Bellamy hopped down from pedestal, and made a beeline for the door behind the staff table.

Volume in the hall erupted as everyone suddenly leapt up and tried to get out as quickly as they could. I could hear what must've been the other prefects calling for the other first year students. I looked around in an attempt to find our prefects, but neither of them seemed to be around.

Jack huffed, "Typical, we get the prefects that seem to have forgotten about us."

"Don't be too judgemental, maybe they just fell in a hole and died." I sighed, resting my head on the back of my hand.

"You have a mean side, don't you Merrick?" Jack replied, with an evil grin.

I mirrored his grin, but suddenly found myself faceplanting the table.

"Sora! Oh my God, you clumsy idiot!" I felt someone place a hand on my shoulder and pull me up so I was sitting again. "Are you okay?"

"Owww..." I mumbled, rubbing my nose.

A red-headed girl with blue eyes was looking worriedly at me, while a boy with unnaturally spiky brown hair stood behind her, looking incredibly guilty.

"I'm really sorry," the boy mumbled, rubbing the back of his head with his right hand. "Someone left some jelly on the floor..."

The red haired girl turned around to look at him. "I don't know why you're making excuses, Sora. You're clumsy at the best of times." She turned back to face us. "My name's Kairi, by the way. This is Sora. Now, you tired looking kids, if you all follow me, I'll take you back to the Hufflepuff common room."

I stood up and started walking, quickly followed by all of the other students, Sora bringing up the rear. We trooped out of the hall, the last group of students to leave, and I was unsurprised to see that the majority of the school seemed to be pretty much empty. Kairi filled up the silence by explaining a bit about Hogwarts, and more specifically, about Hufflepuff.

It was pretty cold out in the corridor, and I pulled my uniform closer around me and huddled close to my friends, not wanting to get lost. I was lucky my uniform wasn't still wet from my dip in the lake, otherwise I would have been freezing.

It took about five minutes to reach the Hufflepuff commonroom entrance, and when we did, it seemed like we weren't even there. The corridor we had been walking down ended in a dead end, decorated by a large still life painting of a fruit bowl.

And then Kairi spoke to it.

"Meerkat." She told it, and then led us down the pathway that appeared behind it as the painting swung open like a door. Interesting.

"Remember that password, guys!" Sora called from the back of the line.

I made sure to save it in my memory, as I knew that if I ever needed to ask Jack, there was no way that he would've remembered it.

He had the memory of a goldfish.

We were led into a large room with a relatively low ceiling. Yellow drapes with badger emblem hung from the stone walls and plants grew down from baskets that were artistically placed around the room. A large fire place was set into one wall, and the fire filled the room with an orange-y homey glow and penetrating warmth that instantly chased the outside cold away. I just wanted to sink into one of the many comfy looking yellow beanbags and just never move again. I was jealous of the few other students who had already claimed a place near the fire.

I could tell from the longing look on everyone else's faces that they all felt the same.

Behind me, Sora chuckled. "Pretty damn nice, eh? We pride ourselves in our rather amazing common room. Trust me, you'll be thankful for that fire. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw will be freezing up in their cold, damp, mouldy towers."

"Do you have something against towers, Sora?" Kairi asked her fellow prefect, with a teasing expression in her eyes.

"Boys, follow me!" Sora explained, throwing Kairi a cheeky smile over his shoulder as he led us boys away to another corridor. Luckily, this one looked more inviting and less cold.

I was right. The corridor was less spacious, but could easily fit four people walking side by side down it. It was about half the height as the main common room, and the heat from the fire was still wafting down them, making for a nice warm breeze. At regular intervals, the corridor split off into large rooms which appeared to contain beds.

Large four poster beds. Nnnh. I suddenly wanted to just climb into bed and sleep.

Sora led us about two thirds of the way down the corridor, before stopping and waving at two opposite tooms.

"These two rooms are yours, five beds in each room. Your suitcases have been placed by the bed that has been allocated to you. Not my rules, so don't complain to me. If you need anything else, anything at all, don't be afraid to ask me, Kairi or anyone else in this house. I'm sure they'll do their best to help you. Toilets, showers and the rest of the things like that are at the end of the corridor. Sleep well!" Sora left us, walking back the way we had just come.

Alex mumbled something incoherent and trudged into the room that was closest to us. Several moments later, he called out. "Yo, guys. We're all in here. And Taylor, I think you are too!"

"BEEEED!" Rian exclaimed joyfully, running into the room.

"Ooof! RIAN, THIS IS MY BED. GET OFF ME!"

Jack, Taylor, and I made our own way into the room, finding our beds without fuss and continuing to try and find our pyjamas within our suitcases. In the end, I gave up, and just slipped off my shoes before climbing into bed.

I buried my face into the pillow, and despite the noise of Alex yelling at Rian, and Taylor attempting to unbury his pyjama's from his suitcase, I was asleep within minutes.

I think I could have slept to the end of September.

* * *

**GREEN DAY REFERENCING FTW.**

**I hope Matt didn't sound stupid. I had no idea how to write him what so ever. I need to creep on some Muse interveiws I believe.**

**So, starting from the next chapter, lessons SHALL START. *parties by self***

**I'm really excited about what I could do with this story. I've got loads of ideas, and I hope you stick around to read them.**

**I have a request this time. Could you please, in your lovely review that you're going to write after you finish reading this, explain to me who your favourite characters are so well? For example, who you think I've characterised best, who you think seems interesting.**

**I would also like to know who you think I need to go and creep on them around the internet. Your input will be placed in a box and treasured forever.**

**Also, if you do review, I'll give you a giant cuddly green camal.**

**Review my peons, review~**


	6. What's My Age Again?

**A/N: Hello again!**

**You know I said last chapter that lessons would begin? I LIED. MWAHAHAHA.**

**Yeah, well. Once again, this was only meant to be a small part of a chapter but I added some extra bits because I wanted to set the scene a bit more and showcase the characters and who is where, and who knows who and whatnot. I promise that lessons will start next update. In fact, the opening scene is a lesson. So bleeeh.**

**This whole chapter is written in third person, there is no real storyline yet, (NOTICE THE YET.) this is just me trying to get everything laid down. **

**THERE ACTUALLY IS A PROPER STORYLINE THAT I'M GOING TO INTRODUCE SOMEWHERE. Honest.**

**Once again, thank you for reading, reviewing, favouriting, adding to alerts. It's nice to know that people read this and like it.**

**I hope you like this chapter.**

* * *

Jared Leto liked sleep. People who disrupted him from that sleep, not so much. This is the reason that when one of his new roommates decided to take it upon himself to be the alarm clock of the room, Jared Leto was none too pleased.

"Rise and shine everybody! It's a brand new morning! Lessons and breakfast are soon- ow!"

Jared faceplanted back into his pillow, feeling rather impressed with his newfound book throwing abilities.

"Gabe, you totally deserved that." A voice that sounded like William Beckett's said smugly.

Gabe grumbled something along the lines of "Shut your mouth, Beckett."

There may have been more expletives.

Several moments of silence followed, in which Jared eagerly attempted to fall asleep once more.

No such luck.

A creak was all that gave Jared a hint that the door was open, before a sudden, and unnaturally cold, blast of air swept through the dorm room.

Another boy, Jared couldn't place the voice, moaned. "Will someone shut the Goddamned door?"

BHAM.

"I'M UP!" The same boy screamed.

Jared shot up, sleepy blue eyes trying to find the source of the disturbance, and instantly blamed it on an older looking blonde haired boy standing innocently in the doorway. A prefect badge glittered on his cloak.

"Morning, first years!" He exclaimed, over cheerfully and far too loudly for such an early time in the morning. He then walked away, as if he hadn't just majorly annoyed some first year students.

"ROXAS!" Jared yelled after the prefect, glaring furiously at the spot where the older boy had just been standing. "I'm so going to get him back for that." Jared mumbled to himself, before rolling sideways out of his four poster bed and landing rather heavily on the floor.

Pete Wentz, a boy that Jared had first talked to yesterday and had quickly become close with, blinked up from the bed, his eyes still looking sleepy. "What time is it?" He asked, his voice cracking in the way voices have the annoying habit of doing on your first words of the day.

Jared glanced around the room looking for something that would give him the answer. There didn't appear to be any clocks, and the sunlight that was creeping in through the bottom of the curtains meant nothing to Jared other than the fact that the sun was up.

This-unless you had some super time-keeping power, or were some kind of wizard-would be no use to anyone. Wait.

After the scan around the room came back clock-negative, Jared was just about to tell Pete he didn't know when someone decided to answer for him. That someone just happened to Gabe.

"It's time for all of you to get out of bed, sleepyheads!"

Jared peered over his bed and the brown haired boy. "What are you, an alarm clock?"

Gabe shook his head.

"Does it look like I'm still in bed?"

"Not particularly."

"Do you want me to throw another book at you?"

"Not particularly."

Jared grinned at Gabe, and then returned to hunting for his right sock. He would have sworn he'd put them all in pairs when he packed...

Gabe 'hmmped' and slouched back onto his bed, watching everyone else get ready. Because that wasn't completely perverted or anything. He was absentmindedly pulling at his clothes when he noticed something.

"Hey, any of you guys notice that the logo's changed?" He thought aloud.

Jared sat back onto his bed, after successfully fishing out his other socks from underneath the pile of work books. He placed his uniform carefully next to him, attempting not to get any creases on it. "What?"

Gabe, noticing that he had managed to gain the full attention of all of his dormmates, waved his hands dramatically, before pointing at the blue and silver Ravenclaw logo that was emblazoned on all the boys' uniforms.

"It wasn't like that last night." William said, glancing down at his own uniform. "It must have changed while we slept."

Jared scrutinized his clothes, and his logo had indeed changed too. "Well, it looks much nicer than that boring grey one. Besides, blue matches my eyes."

Gabe and William snorted. Brendon, Ryan and Pete weren't really listening however, and were too busy struggling with their own uniforms in an attempt to check the logos. When they finally found they all made matching awestruck noises.

"Maybe it's something to do with which common room you sleep in." Brendon suggested, looking thoughtful.

"Or maybe it's magic!" Ryan giggled to himself.

William groaned at Ryan's rather horrendous joke and, with a quick glance at Jared, threw a book at the boy.

"Unf!" Ryan yelped, before toppling backwards of his bed due to the force of the impact.

Jared snorted in amusement; maybe his roommates weren't all as annoying as Gabe. He stretched; pulling at his uniform, making sure his tie wasn't-

Oh, wait.

"The ties have changed colour too!"

"Oooooooh!"

Jeremy Davis was lost. And not just your average lost either, he was walking around in circles, no-one to ask, forever alone, hopelessly lost.

"Why is this school so confusing!" He whined out loud as he found himself, once again, in a large room with a stegosaurus skeleton located in the centre on a raised platform.

Jeremy's stomach rumbled, and was echoed around the room. He glanced at his watch, and let out an exasperated sigh. It was breakfast time, he was sure of it. Apparently leaving time for a few wrong turns wasn't enough for Jeremy 'Oh God, he's lost again' Davis.

Ugh.

Jeremy scowled at a painting; which glowered back.

"Oi, Watcha want?" A teenage boy with a top hat and a strong cockney accent taunted from inside the frame.

Jeremy ignored the boy, who had already insulted his mother and his directional skills on the previous visits to the room. The boy gave Jeremy the middle finger when he realised, once again, he wasn't getting a decent argument.

A turn left, a short walk down the corridor and back to- what? The Grand Staircase suddenly appeared in front of Jeremy, down a corridor that he would have sworn contained a rather dirty toilet last time.

"What the-"

"IT'S AN ICKLE GRYFFINDOR."

Two boy shaped things suddenly leapt into Jeremy, forcing the boy to overcompensate by pitching sideways. Which lead to a loss of balance. This obviously led to Jeremy falling over.

On the stairs.

Jeremy's face, meet the48th step in the Grand Staircase. I'm sure you'll be good friends.

"Oh dear."

"That wasn't meant to happen."

"It's your fault. You're too fat."

"What did you just say?"

"I sad Ol' Gonny is going to kill us if she sees us partially sat on a first year of our own house."

There was a slightly awkward silence. Jeremy pinched himself to make sure he was still awake. Ouch. Oh, good. This was really happening.

"Do you think we should move then?"

"I think that would be a pretty reasonable thing to do, yes..."

The two boys (or alien things that just sounded like boys. Jeremy wasn't too sure.) got up from sitting on Jeremy's back. Jeremy used this chance of sudden freedom to suck in a large breath of air.

"I can breathe!" He exclaimed happily, before taking full advantage of the lack of people sitting on him and crawling down to the next landing. "Freedom!"

He then glanced at the two villains who had attacked him. Who, at that current moment, seemed to be having difficulties on agreeing.

"I think you should say sorry to him."

"Me? _You're_ the one that hurt him the most!"

"And what is that supposed to mean exactly, Joel?"

"I'm going, I'm going!"

Footsteps on the stairs, and suddenly a face was in Jeremy's vision.

"Hi, I'm Joel! Me and my twin bro Benji just sat on you. Nice to meet you." The face said with a cheery smile.

Jeremy stared at Joel.

Joel seemed taken aback by the lack of response and peered at Jeremy some more. "I saaaid, my name's Joel."

Jeremy just stared at him some more.

Joel looked at his brother. Benji gave him a shrug.

Take three for Joel. "What's your name?"

Jeremy decided to humour him. "My name's Jeremy."

Joel smiled in a borderline patronising way. "Well, Jeremy, it appears I have to apologize. And when I say 'I', I mean that fat kid up there." He nodded in the direction of Benji.

"I'm not fat, Joel." Benji growled back.

Joel made an unsympathetic sound and turned back to Jeremy, who was trying to think of a way to escape. Rolling down the stairs seem too normal, and they'd probably catch him...

That left jumping over the banister and hoping that he wasn't on too higher level. Although, that did seem a bit overdramatic...

Rolling down the staircase it was...

Jeremy was just attempting to shoot past Joel, when the older boy spoke again, knocking his concentration. Jeremy slipped, and faceplanted into stairs.

"Ow."

Joel looked surprised. "Are you okay? That looked painful."

Jeremy headbutted the floor again; He was annoyed with himself for mucking up his chances of escape.

"Sooo..." Joel snapped a glance at Benji again. "Where you headed Jerry?"

Jeremy choked on air. Did Joel just call him JERRY? He had a nickname from the creepy older students. And not just any nickname. It sounded like something that belonged to some kind of mouse...

Wait.

Well, anyway, for that instance alone, Jeremy was forever going to not like Joel. Insert Jeremy laughing evilly to himself here.

And he wondered why his friends thought he was a bit crazy.

"Hey, Jerry, I asked where you were going?"

"I was heading towards the Great Hall... I kind of wanted to eat this morning..." Jeremy's stomach rumbled to emphasise his point.

"Yo, Benji." Joel called to his brother. "Jerry here wants to go to the Great Hall. Shall we break out the royal escorting techniques?"

"I say, I do believe we should!" Benji called back, bobbing his head up and down before sliding down the stairs to join Joel and Jeremy.

"Are you going to like, stab me or something?" Jeremy blurted out.

Benji snorted. "Oh, yes. Because I have a habit of stabbing ickle first years."

Joel sighed. "He's three years younger than us, don't expect him to be as intelligent as us."

Jeremy glowered at them both. Feel the wrath of the pissed off, hungry, twelve year old.

Not feeling it?

Yeah, neither did Benji Joel.

Jeremy glowered some more. "I'm leaving. I'm hungry. You two are weird." He scooted away from the twins, reached a 'safer' place, and stood as gracefully as someone who had just been harasses could.

"Aw, no! Come back Jerry!" There was some scuffling on the stairs, and suddenly surrounded by both twins.

"To the Great Hall!" One of the twins said, with much enthusiasm.

Suddenly, Jeremy was shoved sideways as the twins pushed and pulled him in the right direction, yelling out random and obscene facts as the passed points of moderate interest.

Jeremy regretted wanting food.

Frank looked up from his bowl of Coco Pops mixed with Rice Crispies to see a tawny haired boy being frog-marched into the great hall by some older looking boys that looked suspiciously like twins.

Interesting. 'Cause that's completely normal.

He watched as the boy sat down on the Gryffindor table next to someone who looked suspiciously familiar. Frank craned his neck in an attempt to see over the many heads that were blocking his view. Oh. Ohhhh. Frank laughed borderline crazily to himself. It was Patrick. Patrick was stuck with the kid who was stuck with the creepy older kids.

Frank grinned evilly to himself.

"You're grinning evilly again." Ray said, sounding rather worried.

"What? That's the fourth time since we sat down! I am so not sitting next to you again!" Mikey glanced fearfully at Frank, before shuffling sideways into a dark haired girl.

"Gah!" She yelped, as Mikey knocked her arm, causing her to stab her cheek with her spoon.

Mikey gasped, realising what he had done, and instantly started apologising. "Oh, crap, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to touch- I mean, knock you! Argh. Uh. It's Annabel, right? I'm really sorry..." Mikey flailed slightly, trying to be as apologetic as possible, but failing in the way only Mikey can achieve. He was just damn right awkward.

Frank glanced across at Ray and Bob who were both busy attempting not to laugh. Even Frank had to admit, watching Mikey attempt to make up for his mistake was rather painful. Being the righteous person that he was, he decided to intervene and save his friend some dignity.

"Hey, Mikey..." Frank said, poking the smaller boy on the arm to try and attract his attention.

"Again, I'm really, really, really sorry- What, Frank?" Mikey exclaimed, turning to Frank with an exasperated expression on his face.

"I think Annabel gets that you're sorry, Mikey." Frank said, glaring over his shoulder both Ray and Bob who had decided that moment to burst into fits of giggles.

"Hey, what're we laughing at?" A groggy looking Gerard appeared from nowhere, claiming the seat next to Frank and blindly reaching out for the coffee pot.

Bob passed it to him, "Your brother is having girl problems." He informed Gerard, while Ray snorted loudly.

Mikey 'humped' loudly.

Frank rolled his eyes and concentrated on his food while everyone else around him debated on Mikey's lack of tact. He tuned into their conversation, keeping tabs just in case someone randomly pounced on him for an opinion.

Stupid, annoying opinion pouncers.

"Ut oh. Incoming professor." A brown haired girl- Laura, if Frank's memory of the whole 'introduce yourselves because you're all gonna be friends session' last night- said.

Yay for group bonding... Right?

Anyway, there was indeed an incoming professor. He was tall-ish, taller than Frank anyway, with green eyes and black hair that had been artistically fluffed.

Why was Frank looking so closely at someone else's hair?

Jealousy, duh.

'_Why won't my hair look like that?_' Frank complained to himself, pulling at a strand of his hair and glaring moodily at the table. Oooh, hair envy.

"Hello!" The fluffy haired professor said in an annoyingly cheerful voice. _'It's too early to be cheerful.'_ Frank thought to himself moodily and glared angrily at a teapot. "My name's Professor Armstrong, but I'd rather if you guys just called me Billie-Joe. Slytherin privilege." He grinned. "Now, first years, here are your timetables." He placed several sheets of paper onto the table between Laura and Ray. "If you get lost, don't be afraid to ask any of the teachers or any of your house mates. Although be wary about the other houses... We have quite a few pranksters around."

At that precise moment, as if the great God of something decided to create some twisted amusement for himself, Bob and Ray both simultaneously burst out into laughter once more.

Apparently their mirth about Mikey hadn't yet faded.

Billie-Joe looked unimpressed. In an 'Oh God, I got stuck with the gigglers' way.

Mikey glowered at them both, knowing instantly at who they were laughing.

Gerard watched them, a dangerous look in his eyes, as he took a rather posh sip of coffee from the mug he held in his hands.

The Slytherin first year girls, including both Laura and Annabel, attempted to ignore the two boys. Apparently they were trying to give off the impression that they didn't know the two laughing hyenas.

Frank glared some more at the teapot. Which suddenly decided it didn't like being glared at.

And consequently exploded.

"Ah! Tea! Tea is hot!"

"Nooo! My school uniform!"

"My fro! My beautiful fro!"

"...Really, Ray? Really?"

"Yes, really!"

"Pansy!"

"Boys are stupid."

"HEY!"

Billie-Joe looked even more unamused. "Oh dear." He said to himself, his green eyes taking in the chaotic scene before him. Tea had splashed everywhere, while the teapot itself and smashed, and sent pieces of porcelain in every which direction.

He then walked away, heading towards the other end of the Slytherin table. Apparently head of houses didn't feel like they should help clear up teapot explosions.

Frank watched him go; unaware that a piece of teapot had scratched his cheek and that the actual tea had started dripping onto his trouser leg.

Ray, being the unfortunate student sitting opposite Frank, seemed to have taken the worst of the tea and china shower. His afro was soaked with the hot beverage, as well as his uniform. He looked miserable.

Gerard on the other hand, seemed to have avoided it quite well. And quick;y started distributing napkins to anyone effected.

He was pretty efficient really.

"Frank?" Gerard waved a hand in front of the brown-eyed boy, knocking Frank back from whatever world he had been in. "You're sorta bleeding, and there's tea spilling on your lap."

"Oh." Frank replied eloquently. He reached up to his cheek and was genuinely surprised when his fingers came away red. He blinked, and quickly took some napkins from Gerard.

"Stupid teapots. Can never trust them." Bob said jokingly, attempting to break the awkward silence that had settled over the group.

"Eugh, my cereal is all tea-ish now." Mikey complained, pulling a face.

This discovery soon paled into insignificance when the Slytherins realised something else.

"Um. The timetables have got a little bit wet." Laura said, poking at the pieces of paper.

"How much is a little bit?" Frank asked.

Annabel grabbed the corner of the paper, and gingerly lifted it. The ink was running down the page, the actual paper was saturated.

"Shit." Came the universal response.

"Bob, go get some more off the professor!" Annabel exclaimed, waving the soppy timetables at the blond haired boy.

"Uh." Bob blinked at all of his housemates, who all suddenly seemed to be looking at him.

"Go!" They all yelled.

Maybe it was the tone of voice they used. Maybe it was how sorry Ray looked with a deflated 'fro. Or maybe it was because there were several knives and various other sharp objects within reach.

Whatever it was, Bob went.

* * *

**A/N: When a teapot explodes, that's when you know you're having fun.**

**Laura and Annabel are both real people. They are both exceedingly cool. And I thank them so much for letting me use them as characters in this story.**

**I feel bad for deflating Ray's fro. That's so coming back to haunt me.**

**Review if you can, you amazing person you.**


	7. Time To Dance

**Yay, a new chapter :3**

**It's exam season for me, so I'm just immensely proud of myself for writing this and typing it up and whatnot.**

**Just an apology in advance: I'm really sorry if updates for about the next couple of months are slow. I've got exams, work experience, my school being useless and a whole load of other stuff I need to do. I'm just really sorry if that stops me updating when I can, just know that I will keep writing! *salutes***

**Anywho, go read this chapter now. The power of Doctor Who compels you too.**

**LE RHYME.**

Patrick Stump's point of view:

"Patriiiiick!"

It was most definitely Jared; I didn't even have to turn around to know. What I didn't know however, was that I was about to get jumped.

"Gah, Jared!" I yelped, before toppling over, a giggling Jared still clinging onto my back.

"Morning Trick!" Jared exclaimed cheerfully, moving off my back to sit on the floor next to me. Normally I would have yelled my head off, but after a week of surprise attack hugs, I was getting used to it. After a few seconds, I attempted to sit up too, but Jared decided to rest both his feet on my back as if I was some kind of human recliner. Curse him.

I glowered at him, hoping that I managed to convey the 'you're an ass' vibe.

The group of first year students around us shifted slightly, and someone else sat down besides us. I recognised him instantly as Ryan, the skinny brown haired kid from the train.

"Hey, Patrick." He said, sending me a wave and grinning at how Jared was practically sat on top of me.

I waved back awkwardly. Stupid Jared.

"So, Patrick, I see from the lovely red embroidery on your uniform that you're in Gryffindor?" Ryan asked politely, trying to start a normal conversation up.

I held up one finger and shifted to the side so I could see Jared better. He was talking to another Ravenclaw boy. Perfect, he was distracted. I took my chance.

Rolling over, I grabbed both of Jared's legs and pulled him over me. He cried out, in a rather girly way, and slipped over, ending up winded and on his back on the other side of me.

I snorted, and quickly stood up before Jared could enact his revenge on me.

Three cheers for avoiding revenge!

I turned back to Ryan and, ignoring the bemused expression on his face, continued our previous conversation. "Yup, I've been placed in Gryffy-whatsit. Although I'm not really all too sure on what that actually means for me..."

Ryan sent me a reassuring smile. "Don't worry; you'll get it all soon enough. I have no idea how to do spells. My Dad would never teach me the proper words or how you're meant to do it. All he ever taught me was theory and stuff like that."

I stared at him blankly. "There's _theory?"_

Suddenly a girl with short, dark brown hair and glasses appeared, running at a worryingly quick pace, around the corner. She skidded slightly, realising she was about to meet people, but it wasn't enough and she slid straight into a Ravenclaw boy.

"Frick!" The girl exclaimed, flailing as she attempted to stop both herself and the boy from toppling over. "Gabe, I'm so sorry!"

The boy, I supposed it was Gabe, seemed unharmed, if slightly ruffled. "S'okay Shaunee, no worries; forget about it."

That mini confrontation reminded me of Jared's 'bad start' with Ryan on the train. They seemed okay now, not that I'd actually seen them talking... I turned to Ryan, with the intention to ask, when I saw Professor McGonagall walking down the corridor towards us. Her dark cloak and the expression currently on her face reminded me strangely of a hawk. I don't even know.

"Ah. Professor." I warned everyone in an undertone, copying what everyone used to do in normal school.

Normal school, huh. Saying that felt pretty weird.

There was a mass shuffling as the huddle of students loitering outside the transfigurations classroom all decided they wanted to be as close to the wall as physically possible.

"Crap!" Jared yelled, as he quickly tried to scrabble to his fee before he was squished by the impeding stampede. I hadn't even realised he was still sat on the floor.

I grabbed his arm in an attempt to help him get up quicker, but instead just lost my balance and fell onto Ryan.

And from there it was some kind of crazy domino effect. A boy who I remember being in my dorm, Andy, I believe, fell on top of both my legs while ended up sprawled across Ryan's torso. Jared was flat on his back just next to me.

"I can't breathe!" Someone said from behind me. I wasn't sure who; I was more concerned with my legs, which seemed to be practically screaming in agony. Which is strange, as Andy could be quite easily compared to a stick.

"Andy, gerroff!" I say, trying to pull my legs free from under Andy while not squishing Ryan in the process. It sounds easier than it was.

Joe, another Gryffindor, appeared and grabbed Andy's arms before pulling him upwards. I sighed as feeling returned to my feet, then grimaced as pins and needles set in.

Behind me I felt Ryan tense, and he nudged me in the side. I ignored him, but instantly regretted it.

"Mr Stump, do you plan on joining the rest of us any time soon?"

My eyes snapped open and I shoot upright, head-butting Jared squarely between the eyes.

"Ow, dude, Patrick!" Jared cried, rubbing the sore spot on his face and rocking back onto his heels so he was no longer leaning over me.

I glared up at him, and became suddenly aware that all of the other students were watching us. Professor McGonagall stood several paces away, both of her eyebrows raised and looking down past her nose at me.

"Yet more students lying on the floor. You are in Gryffindor, Mr Stump, I expect more of you in future."

Ow. That stung quite a bit. I stared after her, feeling slightly unsure of what was happening. Had she really just compared me to that fainting Way kid from yesterday? It's not like either of us _chose_ to fall over and end up on the floor. And in my defence, I didn't swear.

A few kids started to part ways so Professor McGonagall could reach the classroom, while I stayed sat on the floor feeling extremely disorientated. Ryan grabbed my arms and, with help from a few other students, persuaded me to stand up. I desperately tried not to show how much the Professors put down had affected me...

I had a reputation to keep, right?

McGonagall looked disdainfully at me once more before turning to the classroom door and tapping it once with her wand. The door swung open soundlessly, and the Professor disappeared inside; students soon started to follow.

I hung back as everyone else started to file in, a surge of unease and apprehension stopping me from walking any further. What if I wasn't meant to be here? What if I actually couldn't do magic and I'd got in by accident? What if the Professor turned me into a ferret? What if-

Jared stopped in front of me and caught my eye, knocking my train of thought of the tracks. "Patrick, don't pressure yourself." He told me calmly. "Shannon told me that Professor McGonagall is one of the best teachers in this place. She's been here for ages!"

I pouted and looked down. "But didn't you see that look she gave me? She hates me already!"

"Hey!" Jared overrode me, waiting for me to look back up again. "It'll be okay, I promise. You must be here for a reason, right?" He smiled comfortingly.

I nodded nervously, not entirely convinced, and rubbed my head where Jared's head had collided with mine. "I'm sorry about head-butting you, by the way." I mumbled quietly.

Jared laughed, and grinned at me. "C'mon Trick, let's go get some seats together."

We walked into the classroom and grabbed some seats at the back of the large classroom. It wasn't until we sat down that I realised Jared was probably just as nervous as I was.

I glanced around the classroom, trying to find anything that was similar to my old primary school.

I couldn't find anything that was similar, and I couldn't think of anything that I would miss from my old school. Hogwarts definitely won the prize of most badass school, hands down.

Jared sat down to my left, and quickly piled all of his supplies into the corner of his desk. He then arranged all of his books into a incredibly neat stack, before he picked up a quill and started fiddling with it anxiously. The quill was one of the many things we had in common, bought en masse with most other school supplies on our trip to the wizarding shopping heaven, Diagon Alley.

Ryan sat on my other side, flashing a grin in my direction. I was now effectively sandwiched between two of my friends, and this fact made me feel slightly more comfortable.

Quickly, and far more efficiently than I thought possible, the classroom filled up with students wearing black cloaks emblazoned with red and blue logos. I waved at my roommates- Joe, Andy, Jeremy and Spencer- as they occupied the row of desks in front of mine. Two more Ravenclaws sat at the end of my row, neither of whom I recognised.

It was only when my classroom scan reached the front that I realised Professor McGonagall was nowhere to be seen.

I leaned over towards Jared and tapped him on the shoulder. "Where's the Profess-AGH!"

I large tabby cat with darker coloured fur around its' eyes had leapt onto my table, and was currently starting at me with bright eyes.

"Kitty!" Ryan squealed, and grabbed the cat, hugging it close to his chest.

Everyone in the class quickly turned around to see what had made Ryan make such an obscure noise. It was at that point that the cat decided it had had enough of Ryan's cooing and affection, and promptly scratched Ryan across the face.

"YEEEOWCH." Ryan yelped loudly, reaching unheard octaves of the vocal register. He slapped his palm across his face, a shocked look plastered over his facial features.

The rest of the class looked on in shock; no-one dared to speak. The cat, on the other hand, seemed unaware of what a stir it had suddenly caused. Or perhaps it was just pretending, I don't know. It leapt agilely from desk to desk, until it stopped at the front and... Turned into Professor McGonagall.

I couldn't believe my eyes. One moment there was a cat, the next an unimpressed looking Professor. This was turning out to be an incredibly obscure start to my first year at Hogwarts.

McGonagall surveyed the room, stopping only to apologize to Ryan, whose scratch marks had already stopped bleeding.

She then took one step back and, without any other interruptions or introductions, launched into her 'beginners guide for transfiguration'. I expected toads, flying stacks of books and a plethora of other decidedly magical things. Well, that's what my week at the Leto's house had told me it was like, anyway. Apparently, according to the Professor, you start small.

And by small, I mean extortionately small. Pin head small, in our case.

We were all issued a small pin head and told that, by the end of the lesson, we should turn it into a needle.

I turned to Jared roughly ten minutes later, feeling utterly lost and out of my depth. "Jared, is this even possible?"

I got no reply. Jared was, from what I could tell, resorting to staring the pin head into submission. I wished him luck and turned to Ryan.

"Uh, Ryan, and clue on how to-"

"YES. HELL YEAH." A brown haired boy on the other side of Ryan leapt back from his table, knocking his chair over in the process. He grinned triumphantly.

On his table sat a pin head with what looked like a needles eye at the edge of the pin. I stared at it in amazement.

"Brendon, how did you even do that." Ryan asked flatly, staring just as enviously as I was at the other boys' end product.

Brendon grabbed his chair and sat back down again, staring at his half-pin half-needle hybrid sceptically. "I think you've really got to want it to happen, you know?" He explained.

I didn't know what he meant. His explanation sounded crazy, but I pretended to understand. Ryan didn't make any visible sign that he also got what Brendon said, and quickly went back to trying to transfigure his own pin.

"Ryan..." I ask quietly. "Do you get it?"

He glanced at me. "No," He grinned, "but I can give you a little tip that may help you a little bit. This is one of the first things my Dad ever taught me about magic." He grabbed his wand up from the table and gestured for me to do the same.

He then spent several minutes explaining to me how all wizards held their wands in a way that was unique to them, and finding that unique way was key to learning how to actually perform magic.

After several minutes of trying to find my own 'way' (which just involved me dropping my wand on the floor far too many times for my own liking) I slumped, defeated, onto my desk.

"I can't do this!" I said, angrily. "I miss my drumkit-"

"You play drums?" Ryan interjected, cutting off my half formed rant before I could get into full swing.

I looked up at him, not sure where this was going. "Yeah, and sometimes I play guitar but I'm not so good at that yet..."

Ryan positively glowed. "That's perfect! Now we have something to work with!"

I stared at him worriedly, but he ignored me and nodded towards my wand, left discarded on the table.

"Pick it up as if you're about to rock out or whatever you drummers do."

When I didn't move to pick up my wand he nudged my expectantly; his sudden change of demeanour reminded me of a puppy. I decided to humour him, despite not seeing how holding my wand as if it was a drumstick would help in any way.

I picked it up and held it awkwardly, glancing at Ryan to make sure I was doing whatever it was that he wanted me to do. Twisting my hand so my wand was underneath, I let it fall into place as if it was a drumstick.

It still felt slightly odd, wands and drumsticks were made of different things and weighed different amounts, but it felt a lot less forced; it felt natural, in fact.

Ryan scrutinised my grip for a few seconds. "One moment." He said, and grabbed my arm, twisting my fingers around so I had a firmer grip.

As soon as he grabbed my arm, I wanted to flinch away. I couldn't help it; I grimaced and had to fight the urge to pull away. I resisted though, telling myself that nothing would happen. I mean, seriously, Ryan had been nothing but kind to me since I'd met him. Why was I overreacting? It's not like he was going to stab me with his pin or anything...

Within a few seconds Ryan was done anyway, and leaned back. From what I could tell, he'd just moved one of my fingers. I wasn't sure how it was effective until I shifted slightly, and I realised Ryan had made it so my grip didn't feel so awkward.

"That feel any better?" He asked.

In answer, I flicked my wand experimentally in the direction of my pin.

It quivered once, as if an electric jolt had passed through, leapt up into the air and then returned to the table as a needle.

Ryan and I glanced at each other, speechless. I had done it! I'd performed an act of magic on my very first day of Hogwarts!

After Professor McGonagall had come over to check, and rather reluctantly admitted that I had indeed completed the task, I was relieved to know I was allowed to spend the rest of the lesson relaxing. It felt strange being one of the only people in the class who had finished the task set. The only other people that eventually finished the task were Brendon, and two girls from Ravenclaw called Becca and Kirsten.

It was nearing the end of the lesson, about ten minutes to go, when I first noticed the visitor.

I was staring out the window, absently air drumming and wondering how the wizarding community stopped people from the outside world from finding Hogwarts castle. I followed a crack in the wall to the door, not really paying attention to what I was looking at... until the door moved.

In the doorway stood a tall, pale looking, man with bleach blonde hair who looked like he was in his early twenties. He stood awkwardly just inside the classroom, glancing around the room as if he was unsure of what he should do next. After a few moments of hesitation, he took several steps further into the room. He seemed to gather himself together after these steps, and from then on walked briskly, a more determined look on his face. He walked towards where Professor McGonagall's was sitting at her desk, a wary look on her face.

By now it wasn't just me that was watching the actions of the visitor, in fact, the majority of the class had paused in what they were doing and had instead started to watch this obscure scene. Some of the other students even seemed to know who this strange man was, as ferocious whispering had broken out across the room.

I glanced over at Jared, whose face was a mix between confusion, horror and anger.

"Do you know him?" I asked, surprised at the reaction just one person could cause.

Jared kept his eyes fixed on the blonde guy, who was nearly reaching the front of the class, but informed me in a quiet yet rapid whisper. "He supported Voldemort when he rose to power. I heard he got some form of pardon because Harry Potter himself spoke up for him..." He trailed off as the class descended into silence.

The blonde man stopped at the front of the room and bowed his head slightly towards Professor McGonagall. "Professor."

McGonagall stood, her face completely unreadable. When she spoke, the tone she used was just as undecipherable. "Welcome back, Draco."

**I HAVE FINISHED. *loud music**bad dancing**party poppers***

**After about a week of slowly typing this up, I've managed to complete it. Le yay. Just in time for dinner too. *epic pose* I obviously have some kind of awesome in built timing device. (I am joking. I suck at timing.)**

**I hope you enjoyed this, and the sort of not so twisty plot twist.**

**I mean honestly, DID YOU THINK I WOULD WRITE HARRY POTTER STORIES WITHOUT DRACO? D:**

**Reviews and love will be appreciated, and I will respond in kind by sending you your own TARDIS. 3**


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